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HOW TO TEACH THE 
OLD. TESTAMENT 








BOW TO TEAC 
OLD TESTAMENT 


By FREDERICK J.’RAE, M.A. 
DIRECTOR OF RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION, 
ABERDEEN PROVINCIAL TRAINING CENTRE 


NEW Map YORK 


GEORGE H. DORAN COMPANY 


First Published . . . 1925 


Made and Printed in Great Britain. Butler & Tanner Ltd., Frome and London 


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Preface 


ELIGIOUS education, both in day school and 
Sunday school, is at present handicapped by 
two obstacles, altogether apart from the inadequate 
training which teachers receive for this particular task. 
One of these is the vague feeling of uneasiness about the 
Bible which is widespread. People who may not know 
the exact conclusions of criticism have yet an impression 
that it has undermined the authority of the Bible as 
the Word of God, and this has deprived them of confi- 
dence in it as an instrument of religious education. 
On the other hand, those who accept the critical stand- 
point and its results ask themselves, ‘‘ If these stories 
in the Old Testament are, many of them, not in the 
fullest sense historical, or if they exhibit an imperfect 
idea of God and of character, what is the good of them ? 
Why go on using them?” 

A brief answer to such questions may be given here. 
The Bible is the Word of God in the sense that it is the 
instrument through which God has conveyed to us the 
knowledge of His nature and His will for our salvation. 
This was done gradually. Just as a child is educated 
according to its growing capacity, so Israel was taught 
about God and duty by slow degrees. But if that is the 
purpose of the Bible we ought to seek in it only what it 
was designed to give, a knowledge of God. I might as 

9 





10 Preface 


wisely seek the day of the week by looking at my 
watch as look for modern science in a book which was 
made for a totally different purpose. My watch was 
made to tell the time, and for no other end; and the 


Bible was made to tell us about God, and for no other 


end. 


this knowledge explains why ‘the earlier stages) were 


imperfect. And if it be asked why we teach these y 


earlier passages, the answer is that there is truth in them 
for us. The truth may be imperfect, but it is of real 
worth, and it comes to us in actual concrete instances. 
I trust that the lessons that follow will amply demon- 
strate this. And in regard to these imperfections, if 
we believe that the Bible is the Word of God, contain- 
ing a revelation such as we can find in no other literature, 
we shall not be surprised that the record is not without 
error, that it leaves imperfections behind as the revela- 
tion grows clearer and fuller, and that it does not 
contain that scientific knowledge which God designed 
men to find out by research. 

The plan of this book is as follows. In the first part 
of each section facts are stated which the teacher ought 
to possess as a background to his teaching, whether 
he uses them or not. Then follow notes which ex- 
plain doubtful or unfamiliar words and allusions. And 
finally a sketch is given of the way in which the lesson 
may be taught. Only a general outline is furnished 
which the teacher can fill out for himself. 

I am greatly indebted to Miss Lucy Brown-Douglas, 
who generously typed the whole of my manuscript and 
enriched it with contributions from her wide know- 
ledge of Scripture. Professor J. E. McFadyen, of 


The fact that the Bible shows a steady progress in yy » 


Preface 1] 
Glasgow, and my chief, Dr. Edward, Director of Studies 
in the Aberdeen Training Centre for Students, both 
read the manuscript, and I owe to their scholarship 
and experience many suggestions and criticisms which 
have greatly improved the lessons. Apart from the 
kindness of these friends I have drawn extensively upon 
some books which I wish to mention gratefully. Canon 
Glazebrook’s Lessons from the Old Testament (Riving- 
tons, 8 vols.) is a work of extraordinary learning and 
illumination. It has always been at my hand. Pro- 
fessor J. E. McFadyen’s The Use of the Old Testament 
(James Clarke & Co.) is so good in its general treat- 
ment that it should be in every teacher’s possession. 
The first volume (the only one published at present) 
of the Rev. Basil Redlich’s Old Testament Stories 
and How to Teach them (Macmillan) has also been 
helpful. I have also consulted Peake’s Commentary on 
the Bible and The Bible for Youth (both published 
by T. C. & E. C. Jack). Professor A. R. Gordon’s 
delightful books Bzble Stories Re-told for the Young 
(Hodder & Stoughton, 4 vols.) have given me some 
good illustrations. And, finally, the teacher should 
possess, if he can, a general account of the history 
such as Dr. Foakes-Jackson’s Biblical History of the 
Hebrews (Heffer). I have tried, however, to give the 
teacher all the material he needs for the teaching of 
the lesson. 





Contents 


THe CREATION. God the Author of all Good 


THE GARDEN OF EDEN. The Fruit of Dis- 
obedience ‘ : ; ; : 


THE FiLoop. Retribution of Love 
ABRAHAM’S EMIGRATION. A Great Pioneer. 
Lot AND ABRAHAM. The Great Choice 


SACRIFICE OF IsAAc. A New Thought of 
God : : : 


THE WooING OF REBEKAH. God in our Life 
JACOB AND Esau. What God can do 
JACOB AT BETHEL. God our Comrade 
JOSEPH THE DREAMER. A Boy’s Ambitions . 
JOSEPH IN Prison. Faithfulness 

JOSEPH IN Power. Brotherhood 


THE PREPARATION OF Moses. How God 
fits His Servants . 5 


THE CALL OF Moses. Vocation 
THE PLAGUES. Resisting God . 
Tue PASSOVER. Deliverance 


THe CROSSING OF THE RED SEA. Man’s 
Extremity God’s Opportunity 


13 





PAGE 
17 


24, 
28 
33 
38 


4l 
44, 
AY 
51 
54, 
58 
62 


66 
69 
73 
77 


81 





14 


XVIII 
XIX 


XXII 
XXIII 
XXIV 

XXV 


XXVI 


XXVIT 


XXVITI 
XXIX 
XXX 
XXXI 
XXXIT 
XXXII 


XXXIV 
XXXV 
XXXVI 


XXXVIT 
XXXVIII 
XXXIX 


Contents 


MANNA AND QuaILs. God’s Provision 


ISRAEL AT S1NAI. Another New Thought of 


God 
THE GOLDEN Car. Idolatry 
WANDERINGS. Discipline . 
BALAAM. Facing Duty 
Tue Deatuy oF Moses. Unfinished Work . 
THe CALL OF JOSHUA 


JORDAN AND JERICHO. Surmounting Diffi- 


culties . 
ACHAN’S TRESPASS. Sin and its Conse- 
quences : : 
THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN. The Victory of 
Faith : : : 
DEBORAH. Shirkers and Heroes 
GIDEON. God’s Use for the Humble. 
JEPHTHAH. Promises 
SAMSON. The Place of the Body 
RutH. Loyalty 
THE CALL OF SAMUEL. How God Speaks to 
Us : : ; : : , ‘ 
THe Ark. Superstition 


THe First Kinc. Promotion 


THE REJECTION OF SAuu. The Peril of 
Disobedience : q : q 


Davip. Fighting Giants . 


SAUL AND DavipD. Jealousy 


JONATHAN AND Davip. Friendship 


PAGE 


84 


89 
92 
96 
100 
104 
107 


108 


112 


115 
118 
122 
126 
130 
134 


137 
141 
145 


149 
153 
157 
160 


XL 
XLI 
XLII 
XLII 
XLIV 
XLV 
XLVI 
XLVII 
XLVIII 
XLIX 


Contents 
DAVID THE OUTLAW. Waiting . 
The Good in Men 


THe TAKING OF JERUSALEM 


DAvip’s LAMENT. 
ABSALOM’S REBELLION. Treachery 

The Secret of Great Lives 
A New Era 

SoLomon’s Cuorice. The Greatest Good 
Where God Dwells 
THE DISRUPTION OF THE NATION. 
God or Baal 


NABOTH’S VINEYARD. 


DaAvip’s END. 


SOLOMON. 


THE TEMPLE. 
Infiuence 
ELIJAH. 
Helping the Weak . 
EisHa. Seeing the Unseen 
JEHU. Zeal 

THE WRITING PROPHETS 


AMOS AND ISRAEL. 


Righteousness 
Judgment ‘ ‘ 


and 


THe Fatt oF THE NORTHERN KINGDOM. 
The Half-hearted . 


' TSAIAH AND JUDAH . 


HEZEKIAH AND JUDAH 
THE MESSIAH . 
JOSIAH. Revival 


JEREMIAH AND THE FALL OF JERUSALEM. 


God and the Soul . : . ; 
Tue Exite. I. The Blessing of Suffering . 
THE Exite. II. The Service of Suffering . 


THE RETURN. Separateness 





15 


PAGE 
163 


167 
170 
174 
178 
181 
184 
187 
193 
197 
201 
204, 
207 
211 


214 


218 
222 
225 
229 
234 


238 
243 
247 
251 


; 
fi 


A 


= 


et 





I. THE CREATION 
GOD THE AUTHOR OF ALL GOOD 
GENESIS 1!—23 


A. For the Teacher 


1. The narratives in Genesis 1-11 deal with events 
that are prehistoric. They are of the nature of legends. 
These legends often contain a kernel of historic fact, as 
e.g. the story of the Deluge does. In this respect they 
differ from myths which are creations of the imagina- 
tion, without any basis of fact. But they also contain 
much that is traditional. It must not be imagined, 
however, that a legend is out of place in the record of 
Revelation. The Spirit of God used all kinds of literary 
forms in revealing truth, e.g. poetry, myth, letters, 
drama. The only vehicle available in early time was 
legend, and this story is not any the less part of the 
Word of God because it is the legend current in the 
Hebrew nation. It is a great poem of Creation, and 
the Divine thing in it is the revelation of God as the 
Source of life and order in the universe. 


2. Where did it come from? Scholars are generally 
agreed that it is the lineal descendant of the Babylonian 
Creation story which we possess (see Driver’s Comment- 
ary on Genesis). We can understand that the Hebrews 
brought this as well as other traditions with them 

17 2 


‘ 


18 How to Teach the Old Testament 








when they left Chaldea. But, frankly, one is far more 
impressed with the utter unlikeness of the two stories 
than with any likeness. The chief differences are these. 
The Babylonian story is grossly polytheistic, in Genesis 
there is a splendid monotheism. In the former the 
gods are born out-of the Abyss, in the latter God is 
before all things. In the former creation is a result of 
fierce battles between Marduk and Tiamat (the personi- 
fication of chaos). The firmament is made out of half 
the body of Tiamat which Marduk had cleft in two. 
The calm majesty of the divine fiat in Genesis is in 
striking contrast. If the Genesis legend has been 
evolved from the other it is certainly a great testimony 
to the power of the Divine Spirit and the presence in the 
story of a real revelation of God. In any case it has 
long left any taint of a heathen ancestry behind it. 


3. Apart from the difficulty raised for some minds 
by the presence of legends in Scripture, there is a special 
difficulty in connection with the present passage. Can 
it be reconciled with science? And if not, can we 
regard it as in any sense part of the record of revelation ? 
The answer to the first question is in the negative. 
Science tells us that the universe has been the result of 
a long evolution. Genesis says it was created in six 
days. It is a nice subterfuge to give any other inter- 
pretation to the word “day.” The recurring formula 
‘‘and evening and morning came, one day ”’ is sufficient 
answer. ‘Then, again, Geology gives a different account 
of the order of created things. And finally, the account 
which science gives of the original conditions and the 
gradual making of the world itself is totally different 
from the naive picture of a world enclosed in primeval 
waters and emerging from them. As to the second 


The Creation 19 





question, the answer is as decidedly in the affirmative. 
There is no need to reconcile Genesis and Science. They 
are two accounts of one fact. One isa scientific account, 
the other a religious account. They do not conflict in 
the least. Scripture was never meant to teach science. 
The scientific knowledge of a primitive time was all 
that could be expected at the time ; and God used that 
in order to teach the supreme truth of His sovereign, 
creative Power. 


4. In teaching Genesis 1 to very young children the 
facts should be given very simply as they are in the 
narrative. To classes over 11 or 12 years there can 
be no hesitation in imparting the facts as they have 
been given above. 


B. Notes 


Verse 2. without form: R.V. “ waste,” i.e. chaos. 
deep: not the sea, but the primeval waters con- 
taining the earth within them. 

Spirit of God: not a Person. In the O.T. the 
Spirit of God is God in His energy. The Trinity 
is a revelation of N.T. times. 
moved: ‘“‘brooded”’ as a bird on its nest. Cf. 
Milton: ** On the watery calm His brooding wings 
the Spirit of God outspread.”’ 


Verses 3-5. Ist Day. Light created, i.e. condition of 
life and order. 
God said: i.e. Creation is by the omnipotent word. 
good: corresponding to the Divine idea. 


Verses 6-8. 2nd Day. The Firmament. 
Verse 6. firmament: like something beaten out, a 


firm and solid expanse. It was a vaulted arch on 
which rested the waters above. The waters above 





20 How to Teach the Old Testament 


nS ne 


were the source of rain which came down through 
‘“‘ windows ”’ in the firmament. The waters below 
were the “ great deep’’ from which the sea and 
floods arose and by which the earth was supported. 


Verses 9-13. 3rd Day. The earth and vegetation. 


Verse 11. Three kinds of vegetation—grass, the larger 
plants like cereals, and trees. 


Verses 14-19. 4th Day. Luminaries. 

in the firmament: i.e. fastened to it, as lamps. 
to divide, etc. These lights had three uses: (1) 
to be “signs,” i.e. foretelling weather or unusual 
occurrences ; (2) “ seasons,”’ i.e. for fixing times, 
months, and weeks, periods of agriculture, sacred 
Festivals and the four seasons ; and (8) “‘ days and 
years,” determining their length and succession. 


Verses 20-23. 5th Day. Birds and fishes. 


Verse 20. Literally, “let the waters swam with swam- 
ming things ”’ (Driver). 
in the open firmament: i.e. in front of the firma- 
ment. 


Verses 24-31. 6th Day. Animals and man. 


Verse 24. Three classes of animals; ‘‘cattle”’ or large 
quadrupeds, then reptiles, and finally wild animals 
(“ beasts of the earth ’’). 


Verse 26. Crowning act of Creation, the making of 
Man, introduced by the solemn formula ‘“‘ Let us 
make man.” 
us: probably the plural of majesty, a common 
usage. 
image: man has a reasonable soul which dis- 
tinguishes him from the other animals, and is the 
basis of his fellowship with God and of all his 


The Creation 21 


greatness, as well as of his “ dominion over the 
creatures ’’ (see Ps. 8 and Heb. 2*°%). 

Verse 29. Food for the creatures, the seed and fruit of 
the trees for man; the leafage for other animals. 
Man was a vegetarian by Divine appointment till 
the Deluge. 

Chapter ii. 1-3. Institution of the Sabbath. 

Werse: 2. .\rested : \1.e. desisted,*. The idea is: 2° rest 
day between the Creation and the providential 
activity of God. 


C. The Lesson 


First, picture the “ beginning”’ of things. There 
were three things existing: First, a chaos of waters 
with the unformed earth concealed in their depths; 
second, darkness; and third, the brooding Spirit of God 
ready for the Divine work. 

Next, show how under the action of God order came 
and life and beauty. ‘The first three days were prepara- 
tion, the second three accomplishment. Note how they 
correspond. 


Days. Works. Days. Works 
Ist. Light. Ath. Luminaries. 
2nd. Firmament dividing 5th. Birds and fishes in 
waters the firmament and 
waters. 
8rd. Dry land and vege- 6th. Animals and man. 
tation. 


7th Day. God’s rest. 


It is very easy to show the whole ancient conception 
of the universe which underlies this account of Creation 
in a single picture. 





oo How to Teach the Old Testament 


1. What ts tt that we find in the first chapter of Genesis ? 
It is an ancient tradition, giving us the belief of the 
Hebrews about the beginning of the world. They 
thought the firmament was a solid vault. Above it 
were the waters from which rain descended through 





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the ‘“‘ windows ”’ in the firmament (Gen. 711; Isa. 2418), 
The sun, moon and stars were fixed to the firmament, 
which was supported on pillars or mountains at the 
ends of the world (Job 2611). The earth was flat, and 
in the centre of it lay Sheol, the place of departed spirits. 
The earth rested on the Great Deep and was surrounded 
by the seas. 





The Creation 23 


2. Where did this story of Creationcomefrom? The 
Hebrews brought it with them from Chaldea. But 
God’s spirit purified the old story of all that was foolish 
and imperfect in it, and made it into this glorious poem 
of Creation which we now have in Genesis. 


3. Is uw true? It contains the truth which was 
believed at that time. Science to-day has given us a 
different, and in some ways a grander, thought of Crea- 
tion. But it must be clearly understood (1) that God 
used the knowledge of each age in Bible times, and 
through it He revealed His own truth, and (2) that God 
did not make known to these ancient Hebrews the 
scientific truth which men have found later by earnest 
inquiry. Indeed, it ought to be made plain that the 
Bible was not written to give us science, but to reveal 
God and His nature and will. 


4. What then is its meaning? The first chapter of 
Genesis was written, then, not to instruct us about 
science, but to impress on us certain great truths. 
These are (1) that God is behind everything. Beauty, 
order, fertility, life and its fullness, are His work. He 
gives the rain and the sunshine, the flowers and the 
harvest. God is the Heavenly Giver, because He is 
love. (2) The greatest of all God’s creatures is Man. 
He made us like Himself, able to know Him and love 
Him and serve Him. Thisis what distinguishes us from 
other creatures. And He means us to live with Him, 
and to help Him to make the world better. 





24 How to Teach the Old Testament 


Il THE GARDEN OF EDEN 
THE FRUIT OF DISOBEDIENCE 
GENESIS 2 and 3 


A. For the Teacher 


1. The two narratives. The second narrative of the 
Creation differs in many ways from the first: in its 
purpose, because the aim of this story is to narrate the 
Fall, and the creation of man and his original condition 
are told simply by way of preparation: in its nature 
also, because the second narrative is full of human 
qualities, warmth, colour, and intimacy. God appears 
in human guise, walking, talking, breathing. This 
narrative is evidently from a different hand. 


2. It is impossible to learn its source. All peoples 
have such stories about the beginnings of things, and 
very likely this legend came with the Hebrews from 
their original home. 


3. The story traces the origin of many human institu- 
tions like marriage, clothes, language, sex, and agricul- 
ture. 


4, Note the deep moral earnestness of the author, and 
the profound truth he sets forth. ‘“‘ This chapter was 
written by a master of the human heart. He had been 
deeply impressed by the sorrow of life, the endless toil 
of man, the pain of woman, the death which lies at the 
end for all, and here he seeks to explain how all these 
things came to be”? (McFadyen). He uses the ancient 
legend for this purpose, but it is only the means for a 
profound revelation of truth. 





The Garden of Eden 25 


B. Notes 


Chapter i. 8. garden: rather park. The Greek 
version of the O.T. translates ‘“‘ Paradise.’? Hence 
the use of this term for Eden. Paradise was a 
Persian pleasure park. 
Eden. An early name for the plain of Babylonia. 


Verse 9. The garden is full of trees, and man is to live 
by them. 


Verses 10-14. The irrigation of the garden. A river 
rose in Eden outside the garden, passed through the 
garden, watering it, and then, as it issued from 
the garden, became the head of four streams which 
each took its own course (Driver). 


Verse 11. Havilah: part of Arabia. 


Verse 12. bdellium: ‘‘an aromatic gum which oozes 
from a shrub in the desert of Arabia ’’ (Glazebrook). 


Verse 18. Cush: i.e. Ethiopia. 
Verse 14. Hiddekel, the Tigris. 


Verse 18. Help mect: i.e. a help suitable for him. 
The word “ helpmeet ” is an absurdity. 


Verse 20. None of the animals is found ‘“‘ meet ’”’ for 
Adam. . 


Verses 21-22. The need is satisfied by woman. The 
“rib”? is an allegory of the close connection of 
woman with man and her dependence on him. 


Chapter iii. 1. The serpent: a serpent, and not, in this 
story, an embodiment or symbol of Satan. 


Verse 7. fig leaves: they are the largest leaves on 
Palestine trees. 





26 How to Teach the Old Testament 


Verse 24. Cherubims. These were creatures of com- 
posite shape who were regarded as guardians of 
sacred things and places. They were closely 
identified with the Deity 


C. The Lesson 


The aim of the lesson is to show the result of dis- 
obedience to conscience and to God, and this is led up 
to dramatically by the stages of the narrative. These 
stages should be the guide in teaching, as shown below. 
At the same time it should be clearly shown that even 
at the worst there is always the promise of Divine 
redemption for man in his greatest need (3)). 


1. Innocence. The beautiful primitive life of happi- 
ness in work and love. This happiness lasts as long as 
aman is faithful. There is always a law to be obeyed 
and evil to be avoided ; and the voice that says to us 
“Do not do that’? is meant for our good. So long as 
we obey it we are happy. 


2. Disobedience. What the story shows us is the 
danger of tampering with evil. For one thing, all 
temptation is like a serpent, fascinating and stealthy 
in its approach. Note the artfulness of the tempter. 
He sows doubts and suspicions. ‘“ Is this sovery wrong 
after all? Will it not really give me pleasure ? Why 
should God forbid what is so nice?” For another 
thing, we tamper with evil when we are curious about 
it. There is good curiosity and bad ; and the bad leads 
on to evil acts. Avoid evil instead of looking at it. 
Eve fell; she tampered with evil and this led to dis- 
obedience to conscience, which is the voice of God. 


8. Punishment. Notice how Adam and Eve tried to 


The Garden of Eden Mi 


excuse themselves by blaming others. This was futile. 
God pressed their guilt on them. No excuses can make 
wrongdoing right. Also, notice that they tried to 
escape from the consequences of their act. This is 
impossible. They follow us up, and punishment is 
inevitable. Notice, finally, that punishment came to 
each of the evil-doers: to the serpent, to the woman, 
and tothe man. Sin always brings misery and suffering. 


4. Redemption. Yet there is always hope for those 
who turn to God. There is always the promise of 
victory over evil by God’s help (8%). This has been 
fulfilled in Christ, but the promise is to all who look to 
God. 


5. The story then tells us that disobedience to God’s 
will brings unhappiness and suffering, but that God 
is ready to help all who look to Him, He is not 
a hard taskmaster, but a Father and a Friend; this is 
proved by many examples. Look at a bad man lke 
Jacob whom God made into a good man. Look at 
Peter who denied Christ. Think of the story of Gough, 
‘the drunkard who became a great temperance worker 
and a saviour of drunkards. When he was at the lowest 
depth from drink a friend put his hand on his shoulder 
and said a kind word to him that was his salvation. And 
think of our own experience. We know that we are 
happy when we obey God and we are unhappy when we 
disobey. This is not sometimes, but always. Dr. R. J. 
Campbell tells the following story. In a working man’s 
home the mother was cutting a loaf of bread and weep- 
ing while she did so. Her eldest boy asked her why 
she wept, and she told him that his father had been 
dismissed from his job because he had refused to tell 


28 How to Teach the Old Testament 


a lie. ‘* But,” she added, ‘‘I hope you will turn out 
like him.” And the boy, who later told the story to 
Dr. Campbell, said: “‘I have tried to do it. And I 
would not barter our quietness of heart for all the world 
could give.” 


Ill. THE FLOOD 
RETRIBUTION OF LOVE 
GENESIS 6-9 


A. For the Teacher 


1. There is no better example in the O.T. of how 
ancient history was written. It was a compilation. 
Here are two narratives of the Flood, side by side, and 
it is difficult to form a consistent story out of them. 
Two accounts of the number of animals (6*™ and 7 ~>), 
two accounts of entering into the ark (7°* and 7°"), 
two introductions (6** and 6°"). The narrative of 
Genesis is like a rope whose separate strands have been 
put together but are still visible. 


2. The narrative regards the Flood as universal. 
But this is impossible. 

Historically it is impossible, for the elaborate civiliza- 
tions which existed before this time could not have been 
wiped off the earth, and new and great civilizations 
built up out of three families in so brief a period. 

Scientifically it is impossible, for the earth would 
require to have been covered to a depth of miles with 
water. 

Physically it is impossible. The ark could not have 
contained more than a small proportion of the animal 


The Flood 29 


life of the world ; the conditions requisite for their health 
could not have been supplied, animals from remote 
parts could not have been brought so far and could not 
have got home. It is obvious then that this story is a 
reminiscence of a local flood, a tradition such as exists 
among many other peoples. (See Frazer’s Polk Lore 
of the Old Testament, chap. 4.) 


3. The origin of our Bible legend is obvious. It is 
in all respects extremely like the Babylonian legend 
which was discovered by George Smith in 1872. The 
command to build an ark, the grounding of the ship on 
the mountain, the sending out of a dove, a swallow, 
and a raven, the sacrifice after the flood, all are there. 
The Babylonian story is printed in Driver’s Genesis. 


4, This is a difficult story for the teacher. There is 
perhaps no part of the O.T. which has done so much to 
create in Christian minds an imperfect idea of God, the 
idea, that He is waiting always to punish faults, that all 
calamities and “ accidents’? are sent by Him as retri- 
bution for some failure small or great. The idea of 
God in this narrative is primitive. He is arbitrary and 
extreme in His severity and indiscriminate in His 
punishments. Hence great care needs to be taken to 
show that, while retribution for real sin 1s a fact, God 
is not a cruel Being waiting an opportunity to pounce 
on us; but a loving Father waiting to bless. Also, it 
is essential to make it clear that troubles, calamities 
and “‘ accidents ’’ are not sent by God as punishments, 
but are trials (often due to men) through which we are 
to be made strong. 





80 How to Teach the Old Testament 


B. Notes 


Chapter vi. 6. repented: clear anthropomorphism, 
i.e. a way of thinking of God in human terms as 
though He werea man. The meaning is that God’s 
purpose was frustrated and therefore a different 
way had to be taken. 


Verse 18. the end: i.e. I am resolved to end it. 


Verse 14. ark. The word is used only here and of 
Moses’ ark of bulrushes. 
gopher: cypress. 
rooms: cells. The ark was to consist of rows of 
cells for animals in three stories. 


Verse 15. cubit: 18 inches. Therefore the ark was 
450 ft. long by 75 broad by 45 high. 


Verse 16. light: a casement round the ark below 
the roof. 
To a cubit: probably the casement was 18 in. 
high. 

Chapter vii. 2. Clean and unclean: i.e. ceremonially, 
cf. Lev. 11: seven of the former because used for 
food and sacrifice. 


Verses 10,11. Beginning of Flood. 2nd month: Novem- 
ber, beginning of rainy season in Palestine. 
great deep: i.e. subterranean waters (see dia- 
gram, Lesson I). The Flood was caused by (1) 
rushing up of waters from the “‘ great deep”’ and 
(2) rain from the waters above the firmament. 


Verses 17-24. Progress and results of Flood. 


Chapter viii. 1-8. Decrease of Flood: the great deep 
restrained and windows of the firmament closed. 


Verses 4, 5. The ark lands. Ararat is not one moun- 
tain but the hilly region forming part of modern 


The Flood Bal 


Armenia. This must have been lofty because 
“though the waters decreased continually it was 
not till 73 days after the ark rested on it that the 
tops of ordinary mountains became visible ”’ 
(Driver). 

Verse 18. The earth dry after one year and eleven days 
of flood. 

Chapter ix. 8-17. God’s covenant with Noah. 

Verse 13. I do set my bow: the token of the 
Promise. This as it stands is an example of naive 
science, for the laws of light were in existence 
before Noah, and therefore the rainbow also. The 
R.V. margin reads “I have set,’’ and this would 
mean that the rainbow, while always there, is now 
to be taken as a token for the future. In any case, 
a beautiful symbol of Divine grace. 


C. The Lesson 


1. The point of departure. The rainbow, familiar 
to children and always wonderful, a symbol of Hope, 
the sun shining through the clouds, Hope at the worst. 
God Himself on a famous occasion told us to look on it 
as a sign of His lovingkindness. 


2. The occasion was the Flood. It happened in the 
plain of Babylonia. It was so great a flood that the 
story grew up that it covered the whole world. But 
that was due to the fact that so long ago the size of the 
world was not known. 

3. Presentation. (1) This was how the Flood was 
thought to have come. The Great Waters under the 
earth surged up, covering the earth, and the windows 
of heaven were opened so that the rain came down in 


$2 How to Teach the Old Testament 


torrents. The flood was so terrible that people and 
animals all died. 

(2) One family was saved, that of Noah. The com- 

mand to build the ark ; description of the ark, its tiers 
of cells and windows at the top ; the animals, seven and 
two. 
(3) The beginning, progress and decrease of the Flood. 
The successive birds sent out. What happened to each. 
The dry land appears. 

(4) Exit and sacrifice. 

(5) God’s promise and its sign. 


4, This is not the only story of the Flood. Many 
nations have one. The Greeks had a famous one (story 
of Deucalion). There are stories in Australia and India 
also. 


5. This story shows how much the people long ago 
had to learn about God. Jesus has taught us that He 
is a loving Father anxious to help us, and always patient 
and kind. You are not to think of Him as a hard and 
cruel Being always looking for a chance to punish. He 
has to punish evil but He loves to help and save. 

Also troubles and calamities are not punishment 
sent by God. They are often due to our own folly or 
that of others. But in any case, God does not send 
sorrow or floods or troubles as a punishment. When 
they come they are just difficulties we have to face. If 
we face them bravely they will turn out blessings. 

But all the same, it is true that evil doing is visited 
by God with punishment just as well doing is rewarded 
with happiness. Sin always brings suffering ; not now 
and again, but always. That is just, and God is always 
just. Even His love does not prevent His visiting real 


Abraham’s Emigration 33 


sin with real punishment, but sin’s punishment is one 
of the ways by which God in His love seeks to overcome 
evil. 


IV. ABRAHAM’S EMIGRATION 
A GREAT PIONEER 


GENESIS 1127-129 


A. For the Teacher 


1. Here we emerge from the twilight of legend and 
myth to the comparative light of history. It is not 
scientific history, with its exclusive regard for accuracy _ 
in detail, but ancient history, the traditions of the tribe, ° 
substantially true, but mainly concerned with the 
meaning and lessons of events. (1) The picture of the 
Kastern life of the typical sheik is vivid and real; and 
(2) the meaning of religion, of faith, of fellowship with 
God, is actual and true for all time. 


2. The teacher must above all realize that this is one 
of the great events of history, not a mere “ Bible story ” 
but an event with tremendous issues. It was the 
beginning of the history of the Jews. It was the begin- 
ning of that course of events which led to Jesus Christ. 
It was the source of three great religions, Judaism, 
Mohammedanism, and Christianity. And therefore this 
journey was one of the most momentous of all the 
adventurous journeys in history. Far greater than 
those of Columbus, the Pilgrim Fathers, or Livingstone. 

5. The route must be clearly visualized. <A sketch 
on the blackboard will enable the older pupils to follow 
it. Abraham left Ur and travelled up to Haran along 


3 


34 





How to Teach the Old Testament 


Haran 


® Damascus 


ABRAHAM’S J OURNEY. 


Abraham’s Emigration 35 


the Euphrates. There he waited till his father died, 
when he started afresh, and going by Damascus came 
down the east side of the Jordan to the ford 25 miles 
from the Dead Sea, where he crossed the Jordan and 
arrived at Shechem. 

This is the oldest road in the world and has been the 
scene of many famous journeys in war and peace. 


B. Notes 


Chapter xi. 28. Ur: an ancient city on the right bank 

of the Euphrates, an important place in its time 
commercially. 
Chaldees : a tribe of lower Babylonia and at one 
time the ruling element in Babylonia. Abraham 
was a Chaldee and therefore shared their super- 
stitions until he came to know the true God. This 
must be carefully remembered. 


Verse 81. Haran: the chief place in the country which 
was Abraham’s second home. Jacob came back 
to it and Isaac’s wife was sought here among “ his 
own people.” It was the stopping-place of 
Abraham and the fresh starting-point in his emi- 
gration. 


Chapter xii. 1-8. The Divine call—the Divine side of 
, the event. 

The Lord said. How? We do not know. 
How did the revelation come to Abraham? Per- 
haps as it comes to us, in his mind. 

out of: the severe demand. How much he gave 
up: country, kin, home! 


Verses 4, 5. Abraham’s obedience. The human side of 
the event. 


Verses 6-9. Abraham’s settlement in the land. 


86 How to Teach the Old Testament 


Verse 6. place of Moreh: rather the terebinth of the 
soothsayer. The terebinth was a sacred tree at 
which oracles were given. It was an ancient 
belief that the rustling of leaves was a common way 
of showing the Divine mind. 


Verse 7. aliar: the regular way of marking some 
special religious experience. 


Verse 9. south: with a capital letter. It is the 
district bordering the desert, the last cultivated 
land southwards. 


C. The Lesson 


1. The Point of Contact. Great journeys in history. 
Columbus, Captain Cook, Pilgrim Fathers, Livingstone. 
But here is a greater journey than any! Why? 
Because of its results. The whole history of the Jews 
came out of it and Christianity and all our present 
civilization. Let us look at the story then. 


2. The Story. (1) The Start. From Ur, an old city ; 
Abraham a citizen. When he left he gave up his home, 
his kindred and country: all that was familiar, dear 
and solid. Emphasize this. And he went out to a 
future that was unknown and uncertain. In other 
words, he made a venture. Why? Because God’s 
voice commanded him. It was utter obedience. And 
he went out because he trusted absolutely God’s promise 
to lead him and bless him. 

(2) The Journey. Trace the course by Haran, the 
stop at Haran, then the fresh start and journey down 
by Damascus to Shechem. 

(3) The Goal. Here Abraham built an altar. Thus 
he took possession of the land for God and raised the 





Abraham’s Emigration 37 


flag of his new faith. He knew he had arrived where 
God meant him to be. 


3. The Meaning of the Story. The essence of Abra- 
ham’s act was that it was a venture. It was a giving 
away of what is solid and certain for what is uncertain, 
and this at the call of duty, of the inner voice which bids 
us go on. How many men have done this !—David 
Livingstone, for example, and the Pilgrim Fathers and 
Captain Scott. They obeyed the inner voice at all 
costs, though it led them they knew not whither. And 
so, when anyone goes forward in obedience to conscience, 
giving up possessions for the sake of duty, he is doing 
what Abraham did. 


4. This voice of God may come to us any day. And 
whenever you obey God’s voice in your conscience at 
any cost you are following in Abraham’s track. Telling 
the truth may cost you something. It may mean 
giving up an advantage apparently to gain nothing but 
the sense of doing right. Being honest under tempta- 
tion may be the same. It is obedience to God’s voice, 
and it always brings a great reward. The great posses- 
sion in the world is a clean conscience, and the approval 
of God and a character unstained by dishonour. A 
young man in a Scottish city rose by his abilities to a 
high position with a large salary. During the Great 
War he was asked by his chief to make a false return 
of income to the Government. He was told that if he 
refused he would lose his job. He was very anxious 
to marry, and it was a great temptation, but he refused. 
He lost his situation and was cast out, “not knowing 
where he was to go,’”’ but he never regretted his act 
because he kept his conscience clear. 





38 How to Teach the Old Testament 


Vv. LOT AND ABRAHAM 
THE GREAT CHOICE 
GENESIS 13 (with 18 and 19) 


A. ~For the Teacher 


1. This passage is invaluable for religious education, 
because it sets before the mind so vividly the fact that a 
choice has to be made in life between good and evil. 
Nowhere in the Bible are both sides of this eternal 
alternative so clearly and finely portrayed. 


2. But the story bristles with difficulties. It is, e.g., 
easy to give the impression that righteousness gains a 
worldly reward in the end. This may be the point of 
view of the early parts of the Bible, but it is contrary 
to Bible teaching as a whole and is opposed to experi- 
ence. Therefore the question must be kept clearly in 
view throughout: what do we seek, and what do we 
gain, when we choose the higher? We gain a good 
conscience, and character, and God. 


3. This therefore is clear, that this lesson is for older 
children. It would be wise to pass it over in teaching 
children below ten or eleven years of age. 


B. Notes 


Chapter xiii. 10. They were standing on a hill near 
Bethlehem, from which a fine view of the region 
could be got. 
plain of Jordan: rather, “the circle of Jordan.” 
This was a name given to the whole region in the 
Jordan valley from Jericho down to the south of 
the Dead Sea. It was a very fertile region, but 
tropical in its climate 





Lot and Abraham 39 
like the garden of the Lord: i.e. the Garden in Eden 
irrigated by the river. 
like the land of Egypt: irrigated by the Nile. Both 
plains were famed for fertility. 

Verse 18. Abraham moved south to the high ground 
as far as Hebron, 19 miles south-west of Jerusalem. 
Hebron, so identified with Abraham that the modern 
name in Arabic means “‘ the town of the Friend of 
God.” It was later an important city of Judah 
and the seat of David’s kingdom for some years. 


C. The Lesson 


1. Point of Contact. Describe an ordinary incident 
in a child’s life, when he has to make a moral choice; 
between two sweets, e.g., one big, the other little, when 
there are two to enjoy the sweets. What kind of boy 
chooses the bigger? and what kind of boy chooses the 
less ? 


2. Well, here is a story in which there was such a 
choice. There were two men. They were prosperous, 
and as their prosperity grew their herds of cattle in- 
creased so that there was not room for both. They 
soon had to separate. But who was to choose the best 
land for grazing and water? The older man, Abraham, 
had the right to choose, for all the prosperity was due 
to him, and Lot, who was his nephew, owed everything 
to his uncle Abraham. But Abraham, though the 
older, gave up his right and said to Lot, ‘‘ Do you choose. 
Take the land you wish.”” And Lot seized the chance, 
and chose the best grazing land, though he knew that 
the people who lived there were evil people. His 
conduct was selfish and greedy, while Abraham was 
unselfish and magnanimous. 





40 How to Teach the Old Testament 


3. We have many parallels to this incident both in 
the Bible and outside. There was Moses who refused 
to become “‘ the son of Pharaoh’s daughter ” and chose to 
suffer poverty and persecution with his own people 
(Heb. 11%*°; Exod. 277). There was Paul, who gave 
up a great position-as a scholar and ruler and became 
a poor worker for Christ. These were like Abraham. 
Like Lot were the rich young ruler, Esau and Demas. 
Outside the Bible we have the “ choice of Hercules ” 
in classic story. We have the example of Dr. John 
Cairns, who refused the position of Principal of the 
Edinburgh University to remain a simple preacher of 
the gospel, and that of Charles Wesley who, for the 
same reason, rejected the proposal of a wealthy relative 
to adopt him as his heir. And on the other side, we 
have Cardinal Wolsey and Macbeth. ‘Tell the incident 
of the Man with the Muck Rake in the Pilgrim’s Progress. » 


4, The same choice comes before us in many ways, 
e.g. when we are tempted to dishonesty with the pros- 
pect of gain; when we are tempted to be selfish and 
grasp something for ourselves to the loss of others; 
above all, in thinking of our career in the world. The 
question we have to ask ourselves is: What are we to 
seek ? When we choose to be honest at a cost, we are 
really choosing a good conscience and upright character. 
This is the reward of honesty. When we choose to be un- 
selfish, we are choosing to be like Christ. When we think 
of our career, what are we to seek? Gain? position? 
fame ? There is something better than these. Service : 
this is the better choice. All work and every career 
are to be an opportunity of making the world a little 
better. And our reward is the truest happiness and 
God Himself. 





Sacrifice of Isaac AY 


VI. SACRIFICE OF ISAAC 
A NEW THOUGHT OF GOD 


GENEsIs 221! 


A. For the Teacher 


1. This story should be taught only to children over 
1i years ofage. It is impossible to explain it to younger 
children. 


2. The purpose of the story seems clearly to be to 
teach a higher and better thought of God, that He does 
not desire human sacrifice. Dr. Peake (Commentary) 
doubts this, but it must be remembered that the nar- 
rative was written about 1,200 years after the event, at 
a time when this higher conception of God’s demand in 
sacrifice, that it is the offering of our will, was expressed 
by the prophets. It must be made clear to the pupils 
that here we get one of those steps forward in the know- 
ledge of God’s nature and will of which the O.T. is a 
record. 


3. Abraham came from a land where the practice of 
human sacrifice was prevalent. It was common also 
among his neighbours. The Hebrews practised it now 
and later (Judges 115°, 1 Kings 16%). The Moabites 
practised it (2 Kings 32’), The Sepharvites practised 
it (2 Kings 17%1). Therefore it was natural for Abraham 
to look on it as the right way to express his devotion to 
God. He proposed to give up the very best he had. 
This was the good element in the practice of human 
sacrifice. 


4. The story ought to be made to turn entirely round 
Abraham, not Isaac. Abraham’s were the problem, the 


42 How to Teach the Old Testament 


suffering, the joy of discovery. Therefore this incident 
should not be used as a type of the sacrifice of Christ. 


B. Notes 


Verse 1. tempi: this means “test” or “ prove.” 

Verse 2. Moriah: generally supposed to be Jerusalem ; 
but this is doubtful. 

Verse 6. the fire. In the days when there were no 
matches or even flint and steel, fire was carried 
with the traveller. 

Verse 14. Jehovah-jireh: i.e. Jehovah seeth and 
provideth, sees and provides for the wants of His 
people. 


C. The Lesson 


1. Point of Contact. What is your most precious 
possession ? A cycle ? stamps? books? If you were 
asked to give it up, without hope of getting another, 
it would be a trial. But think of a parent’s most 
precious possession. It is his child. If it is an only 
child it is doubly precious. And to give it up would 
be a severe trial. Well, here is a story about such a 
trial. 


2. Read the Story. Do not attempt to paraphrase 
it. The narrative is so simple and beautiful that it 
ought to be given just as it is. 


3. This story raises some difficult questions. 

(1) The narrator tells us that God told Abraham 
that he was to offer up his son as a sacrifice. But we 
are sure that God could not give such a command to a 
father. How, then, could the writer attribute it to 
God? The answer is simple. If you were sure a cer- 





Sacrifice of Isaac 43 


tain thing was your duty, you would naturally believe 
it was God’s will, and you could quite rightly say, ‘“‘ God 
told me to do this.” All through the O.T. we have 
commands attributed to God which were really acts 
which people felt to be right for them to do. They 
were sometimes wrong in thinking God commanded 
the thing, but, if they felt the thing to be right, they 
naturally believed it to be God’s will. 

(2) But how could Abraham imagine this thing to be 
right ? Theanswerto this issimple also. The sacrifice 
of a child to God was practised everywhere at this time. 
People offered the best thing they had to their god to 
purchase his favour, avert a calamity, or show their 
devotion. And Abraham might well say to himself, 
‘If these people can show their devotion in that way, 
am I to be behind them in giving up my most precious 
possession ?”? This was a fine thought, though Abra- 
ham was mistaken in thinking that such a sacrifice 
would please God. 

We can see then how the idea would occur to Abra- 
ham, why he would think it to be his duty, and there- 
fore how he could think it to be God’s command. What 
then was he taught when the sacrifice was stopped ? 
And what was the incident meant to teach us ? 

(1) Abraham was taught a new thought about God, 
that God does not desire human sacrifice, but that He 
wishes a different kind of sacrifice. The O.T. shows 
us how bit by bit the knowledge of God came to the 
world. There was always some new truth about God 
being given in Israel. Israel had to learn the truth 
about God stage by stage, as children learn at school 
always new knowledge. Here was a new step forward 
in the knowledge of God. 





44, How to Teach the Old Testament 


(2) What, then, is the sacrifice God desires? It is 
simply the offering of our best. Sacrifice means “ the best 
for God.” And what is the best? It is obedience. 
It is our will. It is what we are as well as what we 
have. It is our duty to give the best we have to God. 
This may mean our life or our dearest possession. In 
the Great War many a poor woman gave her only son 
to go and fight for her country. In the same war, 
Nurse Cavell gave her life. The Lord Jesus Christ 
gave His life on the Cross. Many a missionary gives 
up comfort and home and friends to go and serve Christ 
among the heathen. Some brave men have given up 
their career of ambition to support a mother and young 
brothers and sisters. This is what the story before 
us teaches us, that for the sake of duty, in the service 
of God, in the service of the weak or needy, we ought 
to be ready to give up our most precious possessions, if 
that be demanded. The best for God, and in God’s 
service, which is the service of duty. 


VII. THE WOOING OF REBEKAH 
GOD IN OUR LIFE 


GENESIS 24 


A. For the Teacher 


1. Note the perfect literary beauty and skill of the 
narrative. Weave as much as possible of its language 
into the story as you tell it. 


2. The story is interesting because it reflects some 
of the immemorial customs of the East. The marriage 
was arranged without reference to the two persons 


The Wooing of Rebekah A5 


most concerned, though Rebekah’s consent was form- 
ally asked. Also the money given to Rebekah’s rela- 
tives was a relic of the time when wives were bought. 


3. The main lesson to be left on the mind of the child 
is a little difficult to choose here. We might take the 
picture of maidenhood suggested in the story. If the 
teacher chooses this he will observe the character 
represented in the picture of Rebekah ; beauty, industry, 
purity, and kindness. Matthew Arnold takes Rebekah 
as his ideal of stainless maidenhood : 

** What girl 
Now reads in her bosom as clear 
As Rebekah read, when she sate 
At even by the palm-shaded well ? 
Who guards in her breast 
As deep, as pellucid a spring 
Of feeling, as tranquil, as sure?” 


But this is not the obvious lesson of the story, which 
clearly shows the hand of God in human affairs as 
illustrated by the choice of a wife for Isaac, a matter 
of great moment for the future development of God’s 
purpose. 


B. Notes 


Verse 3. The Canaanites were hated by the Hebrews 
(Gen. 975, Josh. 2317), Marriage with them meant 
(1) losing that purity of race which it was one 
object of the Hebrews to preserve, and (2) risking 
that purity of the religion which went with the 
former. On both grounds Isaac must be preserved 
from such entanglement. 


Verse 4. my country: i.e. not Ur but Haran, Abraham’s 
second home, where many of his relations were 
settled. 


A6 How to Teach the Old Testament 


Verse 11. It was the duty of women then, as now, in 
the East to draw water. 

Verses 12-14. Outward signs or omens were the 
primitive way by which God’s will could be found ; 
cf. Gideon’s fleece, the casting of lots, the use of the 
ephod. 

Verse 22. half a shekel of gold: about equal to a 
sovereign. 

Verse 47. upon her face, upon her nose ; a ring of metal 
passed through the right nostril is often worn by 
women in the East (Driver). 

Verse 58. Presents are an essential element in betrothal 
in the East. 

Precious things were really the money given to the 
bride’s relatives, a relic of the purchase price paid 
when wives were bought. 

Verse 65. a vail: women were veiled between be- 
trothal and marriage. 


C. The Lesson 


1. The obvious point of contact here is a marriage 
in modern times, which most children have either seen 
or heard of. The customs were different in Bible times 
and in the East. Here is a description of how a wife 
was wooed and won in the time of Abraham. 


2. The Story told. This is essentially a story lesson. 
The steps or successive “‘ mental pictures” which the 
teacher ought to have before his mind are very distinct : 
(1) Abraham’s instructions to his faithful steward (*°) ; 
(2) the steward’s faithful conduct ('*"*); (8) the 
maiden Rebekah, and her kindness (**); (4) the 
hospitality of the East (7***); (5) the steward tells 





The Wooing of Rebekah AT 





his story (****); (6) the betrothal, with the presents 
given (* °°); and (7) the meeting of Isaac and Rebekah 
and their wedding. 


3. The lesson of the whole narrative is that God 
ought to be brought into all our life. Probably this 
truth can best be taught by being wrought into the 
telling of the story and not as an application at the 
end, e.g. in describing the steward’s carrying out of 
Abraham’s instructions, his prayer has to be noticed. 
This is the best point at which to teach the lesson. 
Prayer is just referring everything to God, and _ bring- 
ing God into our daily life, its duties and interests and 
pleasures. At every point the steward consulted God 
and asked to be guided. He was just doing his duty, 
but he did it along with God ; and that is religion. It 
is a very good opportunity of showing that religion 
ought to be natural and not something reserved for 
Sunday but mixed up with the commonest things in 
everyday existence. Notice how, for all the people 
in this story, the decisive thing about this marriage is 
God’s hand in it. . 


VIII. JACOB AND ESAU 
WHAT GOD CAN DO 
GENESIS 2527-34, 27, 32, and 33 


A. For the Teacher 


1. The real interest of this part of the narrative lies 
in the contrasted characters and conduct of the two 
brothers. The task of the teacher is to present them 
vividly and to sketch the development of their relation- 


48 How to Teach the Old Testament 


ships. That is why all the passages are taken together. 
What they were, and how they showed themselves in 
actual tests, and what became of them, this is all the one 
story. 


2. The problem ‘in the child’s mind is how the con- 
duct of Jacob (whom God chose) can be reconciled 
with a Christian standard or, indeed, any decent stand- 
ard. The solution is, of course, that God could only 
teach right conduct gradually. In these early days 
men regarded such “‘ smartness’ as Jacob’s as admir- 
able. The story would often be told by the Hebrews 
with zest of how their ancestor got the better of his 
rivals. Christ has taught us better, but there are many 
people to-day with the same morality as Jacob’s, so 
difficult is it for God to lead men to know the right. 


3. While not in the least palliating Jacob’s dishonesty, 
it is important to show that he is by far the bigger man 
and with great possibilities in him for the future. Atten- 
tion should be concentrated on the fact that it is not 
our natural character that matters but what we make 
of it with all our helps and opportunities. 


4, It is not really important for the teacher, but it 
may be noted that all the authorities draw attention 
to the fact that these two men in their characters and 
destiny prefigure the qualities and future of their tribes, 
Israel and Edom. (See Peake, p. 156.) 


B. Notes 


Chapter xxv. 27. cunning: 1.e. skilful. 
plain: rather “ quiet,” settled. 

Verse 30. literally “feed me with that red, red’’—1.e. 
stuff. 





Jacob and Esau 49 

Verse 31. birthright. The birthright was really the 

position of leadership in the tribe and carried a 
larger inheritance with it. Hence its value. 


Verse 34. lentils: ‘cultivated everywhere in the 
East ; usually stewed with onions, rice and oil, or 
small bits of meat and fat, seasoned to the taste ”’ 
(Driver). 

Chapter xxvu. 4. A father’s blessing was believed to 
calry with it a magical, or, at any rate, an effective 
power to bring good. Probably Isaac (and Esau) 
hoped to undo the harm of the sale of the birth- 
right by the solemn blessing. 


Verse 28. dew. Inthe dry and hot summer the heavy 
dew condensed in the cool nights was priceless for 
the land. Hence the use of this symbol of blessing. 
corn and wine: staple products of Canaan. 

Chapter xxxii. 2. Mahanaim: two camps, his own 
and that of the angels of God. 


C. The Lesson 


Twins are not only like each other but are generally 
devoted to one another and inseparable. Not so with 
this pair. They were as unlike as possible, and from 
the beginning were always against one another. 


1. They had different natures. Esau was impulsive, 
frank, generous, careless, weak. Jacob was cautious, 
cunning, grasping, strong and patieni. Hsau a man 
of the open air, Jacob a stay-at-home. Esau sensuous, 
Jacob intellectual. You naturally prefer Ksau? But 
note, Jacob was a far bigger man and cared for far 
bigger and better things than Esau. 


2. These characteristics came out in two incidents. 
4 


50 How to Teach the Old Testament 


We are always revealing ourselves in common incidents, 
especially when they are unexpected. 

(1) The Birthright. Its value Jacob saw, though 
Ksau was too blind and foolish to realize it. Note that 
the real sinner in*this incident, according to the narra- 
tive, is Esau. Jacob’s conduct, however, was very 
bad ; it was clever, unscrupulous, grasping, mean. 

(2) The Blessing (27). Jacob’s conduct—his lying, 
his hypocrisy, his dishonesty—as bad as possible. But 
note his ability, and his courage in carrying the thing 
through. (‘I would have dropped the dish and run,”’ 
said Luther.) You condemn the clever scoundrel, but 
you can’t help seeing how much bigger a man he is than 
Ksau. 


38. Now see what followed. Jacob, as the result of 
his conduct, was driven into exile. He never saw his 
mother again. On the way he had a wonderful vision 
of God at Bethel and God became more a reality to 
him. He married in exile, and after many years came 
home only to hear that Esau was coming to meet him. 
Once again he triumphed over Esau by sheer clever- 
ness. He sent many rich presents to Esau before he 
met him in person, and thus turned away his anger. 
But his life was one of many sorrows and trials. He 
lost those who were dearest to him by death, and his 
family were a source of great trouble to him. But 
through all this, and through his fellowship with God, 
Jacob was gradually purified and became a better man. 


4, For older classes there might well be a discussion 
of the real point of this story of contrasted characters. 
It is not what we are by nature that determines our 
future and our service to the world, but what, by God’s 


Jacob and Esau 51 
help, we make of ourselves. See the many kinds of 
natures there are in the world. Boys and girls of all 
sorts and sizes; their natural make-up provides their 
own task and their own opportunity. God’s grace 
made a good man of Jacob. God used trouble and 
sorrow as a sculptor uses his chisel to mould a figure. 
God can make something good and great out of any 
of us. This is the great lesson of the story of Jacob 
and Esau. The difference between them was that 
Jacob gave himself to God and allowed God to shape 
him. We are not bound to be lazy or dishonest or 
greedy or liars. God can help us to make good. 


IX. JACOB AT BETHEL 
GOD OUR COMRADE 


GENESIS 28 


A. For the Teacher 


1. The purpose of this narrative is to explain how the 
sanctuary at Bethel, so famous later on, got its sacred 
character. Bethel was one of the great sanctuaries in 
Israel. It was here Amos appeared to deliver his 
message (71%). Tithes were paid at Bethel to the 
priests. And all this was accounted for by Jacob’s 
vision. 

2. The narrative is full of primitive ideas. Heaven 
is a place just above Bethel with a gate and a staircase 
by which angels who visit the earth go up and down. 
The setting up of the pillar was a customary religious 
act, for in the oldest times the deity was supposed to 
reside in a sacred stone. The vow Jacob made,was 





52 How to Teach the Old Testament 


also a primitive custom. It was a kind of bargain with 
God for protection and blessing, in return for which 
Jacob would give a tithe of his possessions. The idea 
of revelations through dreams is also very ancient. 
(See Notes below.) 


3. In spite of this, however, the religious meaning 
of the story is very simple and beautiful. In expound- 
ing it the teacher should make use of St. John 151, and 
the hymn “ Nearer, my God, to Thee,” or the famous 
Scottish paraphrase, ‘“‘O God of Bethel.” 


B. Notes 


Verse 10. The route from Beersheba to Haran passes 
through Luz, which is 10 miles north of Jerusalem. 


Verse 11. the stones of the place. The valley is a mass 
of stones, some of them standing up, and a hill to 
the south-east rises in a terrace of stones (Driver). 


Verse 12. dreamed. Dreams in primitive times were 
regarded as a sure means of revelation of God’s 
will. Cf. Joseph’s dreams, and Pharaoh’s and 
Solomon’s. 

a ladder: rather a staircase. 
angels: here without wings because they used the 
staircase. 

Verse 13. above it: rather “ beside him.” Jehovah 
appears at his side to give the promise of help. 

Verse 16. knew it not. Jacob is surprised at God’s 
appearing at a place which is not sacred. It is the 
first hint of a truth to be revealed later, that God is 
everywhere. 

Verse 18. pillar: a monolith was the mark of a sacred 
place. Stones were regarded as the abode of deity. 





Jacob at Bethel 53 


It was customary to pour oil on such a stone as a 
consecration. In India every village has its fetish 
stone (Driver). 


C. The Lesson 


1. Introduction. In the last lesson we saw how 
much evil there was in Jacob’s character. He was 
clever and patient and far-seeing, but he was mean, 
treacherous, a liar and a cheat. In to-day’s lesson we 
see how it was he became a better man, and how this 
evil was purged out of his nature. It was because he 
came to know God and to give himself to God. 


2. The Story. This is what happened. The story 
is to be told in vivid pictures. There are six of these 
‘steps ’’ in the narrative. (1) Jacob is sent away with 
his father’s blessing to get a wife at Haran among his 
own kinsfolk. (2) Travelling by the great road north 
he comes to Luz, 10 miles north of Jerusalem, the 
valley of stones. The terrace of stones on a little hill: 
this is what he sees as he closes his eyes in the starry 
eastern night. (8) Naturally the scenery appears in 
his dreams. He sees in his dream what his eyes had 
_ lighted on as he fell asleep, the staircase and the angels. 
Heaven very near and God beside him speaking to him 
and giving him a great promise. (4) On awaking Jacob 
perceives the meaning of the dream. God has really 
appeared to him. This beautiful hillside is sacred. It 
is the house of God. God is here. And God will be 
with him wherever he goes. (5) To mark this great 
discovery Jacob sets up a sacred stone and pours oil 
on it as an offering. Henceforth this place will be 
sacred to him because God has appeared to him here. 


54 How to Teach the Old Testament 


(6) Finally he gives himself to God in a solemn vow 
It is not an ideal vow, but it was a real promise to serve 
God, and this was a great deal for Jacob. 


5. What is the meaning ofthis forus? What places 
are sacred with us to-day? Churches. They are set 
apart for worship. God appears in them to those who 
seek Him. But are they the only sacred places, the 
only places where God appears to men? No, He may 
come to us on a bare hill-side or on the street or in our 
home. He is always with us. He is our Comrade. 
Jesus Christ has brought Him very near to us. We 
see God in Jesus. We know from Jesus how close God 
is tous. And if we try to serve Him and obey Him He 
will help us and show Himself to us every day. This 
is what the great hymn “ Nearer, my God, to Thee,”’ 
says to us. Read the Reverie of Poor Susan, by Words- 
worth, in which a poor girl hears the song of a thrush 
in a London street, and the dusty thoroughfare becomes 
the gate of heaven. “She looks, and her heart is in 
heaven.” 


xX. JOSEPH THE DREAMER 
A BOY’S AMBITIONS 


GENESIS 87 


A. For the Teacher 


1. The remaining section of Genesis is almost entirely 
occupied with the career of Joseph. This is one of the 
finest parts of the book. As a story it is almost un- 
equalled. Tolstoi takes it as a model of what story- 
telling shouid be. For the background of “ local 
colour,” see Mr. Robert Bird’s Joseph the Dreamer 


Joseph the Dreamer 55 


2. One difficulty in teaching is the obvious presence 
side by side of two accounts from which one narrative 
has been compiled. Reuben (71) is the hero of one, 
Judah (7°) of the other. But the two have been dove- 
tailed with some skill and it is not impossible to form 
a coherent story. 


3. The central theme of the whole biography is the 
over-ruling Providence of God, and this should be kept 
in view in the teaching. 


4. In primitive times God was supposed to make 
His will known through outward signs (omens), like 
the lot, or ‘‘ inward mental phenomena,” like dreams. 
Modern psychology has revived this idea in a different 
form. The true selfis supposed to be revealed in dreams, 
and of old it was the true self, deep down below con- 
sciousness, to which and through which God was believed 
to reveal His purposes. Hence the anger of Joseph’s 
brothers at his dreams. 


B. Notes 


Verse 3. coat of many colours. It is a pity to destroy 
the mental picture of Joseph’s garment which is so 
common. It was, however, simply *“‘a garment 
with long sleeves,’’ (margin) and was not worn by 
people who had to work, because the sleeves and the 
length made this difficult. It was therefore a sign of 
superiority. ‘* Many colours ”’ is a mis-translation. 


Verse 12. Shechem: where there was fine pasturage. 
Verse 17. Dothan: where the pasturage is even finer. 


Verse 24. pit. In the vicinity of Dothan there are 
underground reservoirs, shaped like a bottle, from 
which it was impossible to escape. The “ bottle 


56 How to Teach the Old Testament 
dungeon ’”’ at St. Andrews is the kind of thing. 
They still exist in the neighbourhood. 

Verse 25. spicery. The merchants were taking spices 
to Egypt, chiefly for embalming the dead. 


Verse 28. twenty pieces of silver: i.e. shekels, nearly £3. 
Verse 35. grave: rather Sheol, the abode of departed 


spirits, thought to be situated at the heart of the 
earth. 


C. The Lesson 


1. The Unhappy Home Life. It was not a happy 
home. There was constant quarrelling. The reasons 
were partly jealousy on account of Jacob’s gross favourit- 
ism, partly resentment of Joseph’s obvious conceit, and 
partly anger at Joseph’s tale-bearing. Joseph was him- 
self largely to blame. He was something of a prig, 
and also what in Scotland is called a “clipe” (tale- 
bearer), a peculiarly offensive type of boy. It was, 
above all, the dreams that angered the brothers because 
they seemed to lift Joseph far above them. 


2. How the Dreams Came. Show how Joseph’s con- 
stant thought took these particular shapes. He was 
ambitious, and conscious of superior powers, and con- 
tinually cherished ambitious ideas. One day in harvest- 
ing he lay in the shadow of a sheaf of corn in the 
noon-day rest and falling asleep he dreamed. Naturally 
his last waking vision supplied the material of the 
dream. Later, lying in the shadow of a tent on a hot 
night he looked up at the glorious eastern sky, and as 
he fell asleep, his constant thought took shape from 
what he had seen. He was possessed by a resolute 
ambition and it found expression in all sorts of ways. 


Joseph the Dreamer ST 


3. A Check to Ambition (173°), Jacob did not realize 
how savage the feeling of the brothers was, and sent 
Joseph off on an errand to them. It was his first flight 
from home, a three-days’ camel ride, with nights spent 
in roadside khans, i.e. inns; very exciting. But Joseph 
was speedily brought to the ground from his high 
thoughts for himself, when he arrived at Dothan. 
Kvents followed quickly : the fierce dispute as to Joseph’s 
fate—the bottle dungeon—the intervention of Reuben— 
the sale to the merchants—the abduction to Egypt. 
*“‘ Lincoln had his plans time and again blocked by his 
father’s weakness, his partner’s folly, and his enemies’ 
determined opposition. But he kept true to the call 
of Duty, and so triumphed over every difficulty. Gar- ~ 
field was kept by malarial fever from following out his 
early ambition of going to sea. But he was guided by 
his mother to the light of God in books, and thus led to 
embark on his great career as soldier and statesman.”’ 
(A. R. Gordon, The Enchanted Garden). 


4, Dreams. Joseph’s dream meant simply that a 
great thought of his life was resolutely kept before his 
mind, Lots of examples of this. Story of Alexander 
the Great; Napoleon (lordship over the world). All 
these were selfish thoughts of personal ambition, like 
Joseph’s. But other dreams—Wilberforce (his life’s 
ambition to free the slaves); Caedmon. These were 
dreams of a different kind, dreams of service to the world. 

Recall Burns’ fine lines :— 


‘*] mind it weel in early date, 
When I was beardless, young, and blate, 
An’ first could thresh the barn, 
E’en then a wish (I mind its power), 
A wish that to my latest hour 


58 How to Teach the Old Testament 


ew. 


Shall strongly heave my breast, 
That I for poor auld Scotland’s sake 
Some usefu’ plan or book could make, 

Or sing a sang at least.” 


Tell briefly the story of Quarrier. He was a poor boy, 
and, while wandering on the streets of Glasgow, ill-clad 
and hungry, he resolved that, if ever he had money, 
he would do something for lads like himself. When 
later he got work as a journeyman he took a room and 
gathered into it ragged boys whom he fed and furnished 
with work. Friends gave him money (he never asked for 
any), and his unselfish labours were extended more and 
more until to-day we can see the great ‘* Quarrier’s 
Homes ”’ at Bridge of Weir where hundreds of boys and 
girls are trained for a useful life. This is the result of 
Quarrier’s boyish “ dream.” 

5. Two things Joseph’s dreams tell us about such 
ambitions : (1) We ought to stand fast by our thought 
and then it will come true, and (2) we ought never to be 
discouraged by a set-back. Often God’s Providence 
is in the set-back, and it is really part of His plan, as 
it was in Joseph’s case. (8) But the best ambition is 
the desire to leave a mark on the world for good. 


XI. JOSEPH IN PRISON 
FAITHFULNESS 
GENESIS 89 and 40 
A. For the Teacher 


For the most part this lesson is “ clear sailing,” but 
two things may be said in the way of warning. 





Joseph in Prison 59 





1. It is easy to produce the impression that God 
rewards goodness always with prosperity and that He 
visits evil-doing always with adversity. This is con- 
trary to the facts of experience. Prosperity comes to 
the qualities that win it, including honesty and faith- 
fulness. And this is in consequence of the Divine 
arrangement. But, while a good man is not prosperous 
merely because of his goodness, it is true that moral 
integrity is a real factor in promotion, and this may be 
urged without any false suggestion. 


2. The other point arises in connection with Joseph’s 
temptation by Potiphar’s wife. Obviously with a 
younger class this episode must be passed over lightly. 
But it is otherwise with adolescents. ‘They are at a 
period of life when temptation in this form is very real, 
and the passage affords an opportunity of showing 
what the real defence against temptation is. The part 
of the lesson dealing with this may therefore be omitted 
with younger classes. 


| B. Notes 
Chapter xxxix. 1. Pharaoh. This is not an individual 
Mame. Itiis like’ * Kaiser’ “““Czar, >and? the 


Sublime Porte” applied to the Sultan of Turkey. 
The ruler of Egypt was “the Pharaoh,’ which 
means “ Great House.” 


Chapter xl. 17. bakemeats: i.e. pastry. 


Verse 19. hang thee on a tree, refers, not to death by 
hanging, which was not practised, but to exposing 
the dead body of a criminal on a tree for birds to 
destroy. This was a severe punishment owing to 
the Egyptian belief that an unmutilated body was 


60 How to Teach the Old Testament 


necessary for immortality. Hence the practice of 
embalming dead bodies. 


C. The Lesson 


1. The point of departure for this lesson is plainly 
Joseph’s dreams. He had soaring ambitions and the 
vision of a great future for himself. And all this seemed 
to be brought to naught when he was sold as a slave 
into Egypt. But when we look deeper we can see how 
God was making the worst of his troubles the stepping- 
stones to greater things. This is Joseph’s dark time, 
when he was tested. 


2. The first episode is his life as a slave in Potiphar’s 
house. It was alow condition, and yet here Joseph rose 
to the top as healways did. And he rose by reason just 
of his qualities, i.e. of his faithfulness. He was always 
trusted because he was trustworthy. Describe the 
steady rise of Joseph till everything was put into his 
hands. See how the meanest position can be trans- 
figured by the spirit in a man. It is not rank but 
character that counts. And such honesty and faith- 
fulness as Joseph’s are the sure way to promotion in 
life. Men value such trustworthiness and reward it 
with honour and trust. 


3. The second episode was the false accusation. 
Joseph was tempted by his master’s wife and he resisted 
the temptation. How did he resistit ? Simply because 
he had something better in his life. Duty, honour and 
God were his watchwords. He lived by them. And 
therefore he was proof against this temptation. What 
overcomes temptation is not struggling against it, but 
having our hearts garrisoned against it by something 


Joseph wn Prison 61 


better. Just as fresh air and sunshine fortify the body 
against disease, so living with good thoughts, good books, 
good friends, and with God fortifies the soul against 
evil. Illustrate by Ulysses and Orpheus and the Sirens. 
The Sirens were fabulous creatures, half-women and 
half-bird, who dwelt on an island near Sicily and lured 
voyagers to their death by the beauty of their music. 
When Ulysses passed he stopped his sailors’ ears with 
wax, and had himself tied to the mast, and so escaped 
in safety. But when Orpheus passed he so charmed 
his sailors with the superior beauty of his music that 
they did not feel the attraction of the Sirens. 


4, The third episode was the prison life. We have 
many examples of how a prison can be transfigured : 
Paul in prison at Rome, his ministry there, and the 
great letters he wrote; Dante in exile; Bunyan; 
Milton in his blindness, which was a real prison. So 
Joseph made his prison into something noble and 
etacious by two things, his unquenchable courage and 
his unselfish spirit. His sympathy with others (40° ”) 
made him forget his own trouble. ‘“‘ He was no sooner 
in prison than he discovered how interesting a place a 
prison could be” (Strahan, Hebrew Ideals). Samuel 
Rutherford was exiled to Aberdeen, and sent his 
beautiful letters ‘‘ From Christ’s Palace in Aberdeen.”’ 
He wrote: ‘‘Do you know, I thought of Jesus till 
every stone in the wall of my cell glowed like a 
ruby.”’ 

The worst conditions can be redeemed by such cour- 
age and such unselfishness. And indeed one act of 
kindness on his part led to his release and all his great- 
ness. Again we see (as in 39”8) that he rose to the top 

ecause of what he was. 


62 How to Teach the Old Testament 


5. The explanation of it all is found in a phrase four 


\. times repeated (89 *:7428), ** the Lord was with him.” 


This was the secret of Joseph’s supremacy and of his 
whole career. It is because of this that what seems_ 
most against us turns in the end to good “for those 
who love Him.”’ God is able to make all things work 
together for good for those who like Joseph trust Him 
and serve Him. David Livingstone’s ambition was to 
go to China, but the Opium War prevented its fulfil- 
ment. In Africa, where his work lay, he was often in 
dire extremity. He told the students of Glasgow 
University the secret of his courage in these circum- 
stances. “* Shall I tell you what sustained me amidst 
the toil and hardship and loneliness of my exiled life ? 
It was the promise, I am with you always.” 


XIT. JOSEPH IN POWER 
BROTHERHOOD 
GENESIS 41-46 


A. For the Teacher 


1. This is a story lesson pure and simple. It is one 
of the most dramatic in the Bible. The sudden rise 
to power of Joseph, the visits of the brothers, the 
suspense and agony they endured, the magnificent 
conduct of Judah, the reconciliation, all make a noble 
tale. The teacher should therefore be content to tell 
the story, letting the truth it embodies appear in the 
telling, and striving only to make the right impression on 
the children’s minds. The story carries its own moral. 


2 There is a danger of confusing two impressions 


Joseph in Power 63 


which compete for prominence. One great lesson of 
Joseph’s elevation is the wonder of Divine Providence, 
and its methods. The other is the true meaning of 
brotherhood. The teacher must choose which impres- 
sion to leave on the mind and tell the story for that. 


B. Notes 


Chapter xli. 8. magicians: these were the “ learned ”’ 
class. 


Verse 34. take up the fifth part: i.e. of the corn pro- 
duced. 


Verse 38. the Spirit of God. In the O.T. the Spirit 
is the source of all extraordinary gifts. Cf. Exod. 
Die se uudresia 4 (isa LE, 

Verses 41, 42. stgnet ring: the sign of his post as grand 
vizier. 

Verses 41, 54, all lands. Famine in other countries 
caused by lack of rain. This common in Canaan. 


Cf. Gen. 41230, 
Chapter xli. 6. bowed down: a fulfilment of Joseph’s 
dreams. 


Verse 9. nakedness of theland. Egypt was unprotected < 
on the eastern border, and exposed to attacks from 
the quarter from which the brothers had come. 


Verse 24. Szmeon: he was the oldest except Reuben, 
who had saved Joseph’s life. 


Verse 25. money: not coin, but bars of silver. 


Chapter xlu.11. A present. This was necessary when 
one appeared before any great person (1 Kings 
1025; Matt. 212), 


64, How to Teach the Old Testament 


Verse 82. Egyptians ate sitting on chairs and were 
served by servants from a sideboard. They did 
not eat with foreigners. (Glazebrook.) 


Chapter xliv. 5. dtvineth. In the East a cup was used 
to find how events were to happen. It was some- 
times inverted and the drops were watched to see 
how they came down the cup. (Glazebrook.) 


Chapter xlv.10. Goshen. Joseph was anxious that the 
family should settle in Goshen, because it was good 
land for pasturage and because it was nearest to 
Canaan. They might wish to leave Egypt, and 
Goshen was convenient. 


Verse 24. fall not out. What Joseph had in mind 
was that they might quarrel as to who was most 
to blame about the past. 


C. The Lesson 


1. The point of departure after Lesson XI is obviously 
the fact that a very little incident may have great 
results. Joseph’s kind action in helping the butler in 
prison led later to his summons before Pharaoh and 
all that came after that. 


2. How Joseph rose to Power. Pharaoh’s Dream. 
A natural one for a ruler of Egypt, where the failure of 
rain on the mountains to the south would cause a 
failure of the Nile to bring down the fertilizing mud. 
Lean ears of corn are the mark of famine in a waterless 
land. The butler’s remembrance and Joseph’s sum- 
mons from prison. Joseph, because he lived with 
God, could see more clearly than others the workings of 
God in nature and in life. Hence his interpretation of 
the dreams. The result, Joseph’s sudden elevation to 


Joseph in Power 65 
power and honour. This is common in the East (cf. 
the Arabian Nights). But notice these things: His 
early dream now completely fulfilled. Also, see how 
each step in his life had prepared him for this respen- 
sibility. The “ pit,’ the apprenticeship in Potiphar’s 
house, the prison, all had been necessary in the Provi- 
dence of God. 


3. How Joseph used his Power. Nobly, not for him- 
self but for two great objects : 

(1) To Help Others. His policy as ruler. Its fore- 
sight. Its triumphant success. How he was able to 
succour the needy; this is the great opportunity of 
power (the royal motto “Ich dien,” noblesse oblige, 
the life of a man like Quarrier). 

(2) To Reconcile the Brothers. One result of the 
famine was to bring his brothers down to Egypt for 
succour. They didn’t know him, but he knew them. 
What was he todo? Why not declare himself at once? 
The answer is, Because he wished to test them, to find 
out whether they were better men and had repented 
of their crime. Joseph did not nurse his wrongs or 
wish revenge. He wanted to make friends with his 
brothers. Hence the tests. The First Visit.—Joseph’s 
harshness—‘“‘ spies **—the brothers in prison, their 
release on a condition. The Second Visit—The enter- 
tainment, the cup in the sack, the arrest and accusation, 
Judah’s splendid plea, the reconciliation, Joseph’s 
generosity, the final settlement in Goshen under his 
protection. | 


4. This story lends itself ideally to dramatic reproduc- 
tion by the pupils. The scenes stand out, the language 
is easily memorized. 


5 





66 How to Teach the Old Testament 


XI. THE PREPARATION OF MOSES 
HOW GOD FITS HIS SERVANTS 


Exopus 17 ** "2 


A. For the Teacher 


1. The New Era. With the advent of Moses we 
enter upon an important period in the history of God’s 
people. Moses did two great things: he created a 
nation out of a crowd of half-civilized people; and 
he gave them a faith. His contribution to Israel’s 
religion was the revelation of Jehovah as Israel’s 
God and the ideal of a holy people, whose duty it was 
to carry out His purpose and reflect His character. 
No wonder he is regarded in the O.T. as one of the 
supreme personalities in this story. 


2. The situation which is behind the advent of Moses 
must be clearly visualized. Egypt was exposed on her 
eastern frontier, just where the Hebrews lived, to 
sudden invasion, and this frontier was protected by a 
line of fortresses against the Bedawin. The slave and 
foreign population of Egypt was about one-third of 
the whole, and these strangers constituted a menace. 
Hence the policy of reducing their numbers by forced 
labour and massacre. 


3. There is much in the story of Exodus which can 
hardly be taught to very young children owing to the 
harsh conception of God which is expressed in it. (See 
Redlich, pp. 168-171.) This can be easily explained 
to older children as part of the result of a progressive 
revelation. But for those of tender years the story of 





The Preparation of Moses 67 


Exodus should be given in a general summary. The 
present Lesson is, however, one exception. 


B. Notes 


Chapter i. 8. a new king: Rameses II, 1800-1234 B.c. 


Verse 11. Pharaoh: “‘ the Pharaoh.”’ 
taskmasters : rather ‘‘ gangmasters.”’ 
treasure cities: rather “‘ store cities’? where large 
quantities of corn were laid up for the army. 


Chapter il. 3. ark of bulrushes: i.e. of papyrus, from 
which ancient paper was made. We read in 
Isaiah 18? of boats made of papyrus. 
slime: i.e. asphalt imported from the Dead Sea to 
Egypt for embalming. 
flags: i.e. reeds. 

Verse 15. Midian: now known to be a district south 
of Edom and lying along the east of the Gulf of 
Akabah. 

Verse 16. draw water: see note on Genesis 2411, 
Lesson VII. 


C. The Lesson 


1. Introduction. It was 200 years after the Hebrews 
had settled in Goshen that Moses was born. There 
was a new Pharaoh of a new line of kings who had no 
favour for these strangers. This new king, indeed, 
began to oppress them. He had two reasons. One 
was that they were becoming so numerous that they 
might be a danger (see before). The forced labour to 
which he set them meant great destruction of life. The 
other reason was his need of a great deal of slave labour 
to build his great cities. Part of this work was brick- 





68 How to Teach the Old Testament 


making. Clay was dug out and softened with water 
and then sand was added to prevent the bricks crack- 
ing. Straw was used also, either to bind the material 
together or to prevent it sticking to the mould. Of 
course to compel the workers to find straw for them- 
selves added enormously to their labour. When this 
forced labour failed to limit the numbers of the people 
the Pharaoh resorted to massacre. 


2. Moses’ Birth. Oppression, however, generally pro- 
duces a deliverer (e.g. Gideon, David, Knox, Garibaldi). 
It was just when things were worst that Moses was 
born. The beautiful story of his birth shows the wonder- 
ful Providence of God. It reads like a miracle. But 
then, every baby’s life is a miracle. The love, the care, 
the labour, the self-denial spent on the tender infant 
deserve his gratitude and love. Note the concern and 
the devotion of the mother and sister in this story. 


3. Moses’ Education. The education of the boy in 
the palace was part of his preparation for his future 
task. He was ‘instructed in all the wisdom of the 
Egyptians.’’ He was trained in mind and in body with 
the greatest care, and learned the art of leadership in 
the palace. We can see in his case the importance of 
all the training we get in knowledge, in good habits, in 
health. We can’t have too much of it, and our fitness 
for our future work depends on the attention we give 
to all this; we get the reward later 


4, Moses’ Choice. One thing more was needed for 
Moses’ future career. He must choose his side. There 
were two sides. He could remain in the palace as a 
young prince, in comfort and ease and plenty. Or he 
could cast in his lot with his despised peopie, a mob of 


The Preparation of Moses 69 


slaves, down-trodden and oppressed. Which should 
he choose? Read Hebrews 117***, In his choice we 
see the influence of his mother’s teaching, from which 
he had learned about the true God and His great promises 
to His people. Also we see Moses’ noble nature. The 
incident of the slaying of the Egyptian was just the 
spark that set fire to his deliberate decision. A striking 
parallel to Moses’ experience was that of Sir William 
Wallace, who killed an English officer for insulting 
Wallace’s country. Wallace had to flee to the hills, 
and the persecutions he endured led to his heroic struggle 
which gave freedom to his country. The story of 
William Tell may also be used here, or that of Garibaldi. 


5. Moses’ Retirement. After his flight Moses was in 
Midian for a long time, when he had time to think and 
plan his future. He never forgot his people or his 
determination to help them. But this quiet time was 
needful for him to gather strength and confidence. (Cf. 
Paul and Jesus, and John Knox on the galleys in France, 
and many others.) 


XIV. THE CALL OF MOSES 
VOCATION 


Exopus 8 and 4 


A. For the Teacher 


1. Here is a type of lesson frequently repeated. Many 
of the notable leaders in Israel experienced such a 
‘“‘eall’’ to their work, like Joshua (Josh. 1), Gideon 
(Judges 6), Samuel (1 Sam. 3), Isaiah (Isa. 6). The 





70 How to Teach the Old Testament 


present lesson may be taken as a guide to others of the 
same kind. 


2. The dialogue between God and Moses is a vivid 
pictorial transcript “of what went on in Moses’ mind. 
It is important to avoid giving the impression that God 
spoke to Moses of old and does not speak to us. He 
speaks to us in the same way in nature and in oppor- 
tunity and in our own thoughts. The same things are 
going on now as happened of old. 


3. How the bush came to flame we are not told. 
Naturalists tell us that some of these desert shrubs pro- 
duce a gas which now and again burns in a flame with- 
out hurting the shrub. Or was it the red sunset shining 
on the bushes, striking Moses’ mind with the wonder of 
God’s presence and speaking to him with the voice of 
nature? (The Bible for Youth, p. 105.) 


4. The revelation of God’s name here is important. 
The essential point is that now Jehovah was to be the 
nation’s God and known as such by His name. It was 
Moses’ great achievement to give the people a national 
faith. The meaning of the name is obscure. It 
ought to be spelled Jahweh, and the most probable 
meaning is “* He will be.”’ Instead of “I am that I 
am”’ of the A.V., the right phrase is “‘ I will be what I 
will be.’ What God was to be would be shown in the 
history of the future. The ordinary form ‘“ Jehovah ” 
may be kept and used, since it is consecrated by long 
custom. 

5. Spoiling the Egyptians (87.72: 12%), This is 
an example of the need of teaching children the truth 
of the Progressiveness of Revelation. God is repre- 
sented as enjoining the Israelites to “‘ borrow ”’ all sorts 





The Call of Moses TA 


of treasure from the Egyptians. The moral sense was 
not developed. The people saw no harm in this “ spoil- 
ing,’ and naturally the act is attributed to God’s com- 
mand. The simple explanation is that God could only 
teach right conduct by slow degrees. The narrator 
shares the imperfect moral sense of the ‘ borrowers.’ 


B. Notes 


Chapter iil. 1. mountain of God: where God dwelt or 
was manifested. 
Horeb: a mountain in the south of the range of 
Seir (Glazebrook). 


Verse 2. angel of the Lord. Always God in one of His 
sense-manifestations. 

Verse 5. shoes: sandals. 

Verse 8. land flowing with milk and honey. The 
usual description of Palestine: ‘‘ milk’ because 
good pasture. The tribes mentioned are the 
original inhabitants of Palestine. The land, because 
of its broken character, was always inhabited by 
tribes. 

Verse 15. the Lorp: i.e. Jehovah, which is generally 
written “‘ the Lorp ”’ in our version. 

Verse 16. elders of Israel. Like other ancient Eastern 
communities, Israel was governed by a council of 
sheiks or elders who were the mightiest persons in 
the community. 


C. The Lesson 


1. Introduction. We have seen how Moses was made 
ready for his great work. But there was one more 
preparation needed. He must be sure he was “ called 


fe. How to Teach the Old Testament 


of God” to it. All the great leaders, like Joshua and 
David and Isaiah, had such a call. They needed assur- 
ance that God was behind them. 


2. Picture of Moses in the desert with his sheep. His 
mind full of his people, so oppressed and miserable. 
How could they be helped ? God had promised great 
things to the fathers ;—how were they to be realized ? 
Was he the destined instrument ? 


3. ‘The wonderful sight’ that drew his attention 
in the midst of these thoughts, the Burning Bush (see 
under A). God was near him then, even in the desert ! 
Moses saw God in the bush as we may see Him in the 
rainbow or the sunset or in the beauty of a glorious land- 
scape or in a lovely flower. Jean Francois Millet, who 
painted the “‘ Angelus,’’ was trained by his father to 
see beauty everywhere. Once when they stood together 
before a beautiful sunset the father took off his hat rever- 
ently and said, “‘ My son, itis God.” That wasa day of 
revelation to young Millet, and we see from his pictures, 
which are all of common things, that he never failed to 
see God in ordinary life. 


4. The dialogue between God and Moses (see under 
A). It was clear now to Moses that he was to be God’s 
instrument in delivering Israel out of Egypt. But like 
all men who have a difficult job to tackle he saw diffi- 
culties in the way that seemed insuperable. There were 
four. The first was his own unfitness. So Gideon felt, 
and Isaiah and Jeremiah. But this is met by the Divine 
assurance, ‘‘ I will be with thee.”” The second difficulty 
was Moses’ ignorance of God. How was he to tell the 
people he had been sent? This is met by the revela- 
tion of God’s name, “I will be what I will be.”? The 


The Call of Moses 73 


third difficulty was the probable unbelief of Israel; 
they would not credit Moses’ claim or trust him. This 
is met by the “signs ’”’ he was to show as credentials. 
The fourth difficulty was his slowness of speech. This 
is met by the promise of God’s inspiration and the help 
of a good speaker in the person of Aaron. All the 
difficulties were thus cleared away, as they generally 
are when we are sure God is calling us toanything. And 
so gradually there came to Moses the firm conviction 
that God was calling him to this dangerous and glorious 
task. And this conviction was a very great strength 
to him thereafter. He knew God now, and he knew 
God was with him, and he saw his duty as co-operation 
with God. 

5. Parallels in the Bible and outside: Abraham, 
Samuel, Jesus, Joan of Arc, Luther, Florence Nightingale. 


6. Can we say the same about our work, e.g. the work of 
an engineer, ploughman, carpenter? Certainly. God’s 
eall comes in our inclinations, our circumstances, our 
fitness. And we ought all to feel that He is calling us 
to be a joiner or a teacher or a doctor, or to whatever 
other work in life we do, and that therefore He will be 
with us in our work. 


XV. THE PLAGUES 
RESISTING GOD 
Exopus 7-11 


A. For the Teacher 


1. The Plagues. The miraculous element in these 
events lies not in themselves. They are all quite 





74 How to Teach the Old Testament 


natural events which happened frequently in Egypt 
(see the Notes). It lies in their providential happening. 
Many other “ miracles ” in the O.T. (such as the crossing 
of the Red Sea) are to be explained in the same way. 
The miracle lies not in the events but in their coming 
when they did and as they did. In 10?3 it is said the 
east wind brought the locusts, and that God sent the east 
wind. How much, then, here is history? In regard 
to that it must be remembered that four centuries at 
least lie between the events and the earliest of the 
sources of our narrative, and there have therefore 
probably been accretions to the facts like the heighten- 
ing of the miraculous element. But the persistence of 
the traditions and their place in literature show that 
the essential facts, such as the actual situation in Egypt 
and the characters and conduct of the two chief figures, 
are reliable. 


2. The Hardening of Pharaoh. The real interest of 
the narrative is not the plagues, but the actions and 
experience of Pharaoh. The plagues are only the 
dramatic stage on which is set the tragedy of a con- 
science. There is a real moral problem for the child 
in the actions attributed to God. God hardens a 
man’s heart and then punishes him for being hard- 
ened ! Now, in explaining this, we must make it clear 
that the Hebrews attributed everything, good and evil, 
to the direct action of God. If anyone died suddenly, 
God struck him dead (cf. Uzzah). Ifthere was a pesti- 
lence, God sent it. They had not learned, as we have, 
to trace things to secondary causes. We trace the pesti- 
lence to its immediate cause, and set our sanitation 
right. Not sothe Hebrews. Thisis the explanation of 
the representation here as to God hardening Pharaoh, 


The Plagues 75 
and of much else in the O.T. that puzzles children. In 
attributing the hardening to God the writer was wrong, 
and wrong because people had not yet learned the 
highest truth about God (again we see the necessity of 
teaching the progressiveness of revelation). Why do 
we say so? Because Christ has taught us the full 
truth about God. The teacher must set this story in 
the light of N.T. teaching, and not allow children to 
have the impression of God as a terrible, cruel and 
arbitrary Being. But, at the same time, it is easy to 
show what really happened. When a man resists the 
truth or duty often enough he becomes hardened 
against it. To resist God is to have the best in us 
destroyed. Tosilence the voice of conscience is by and 
by not to hear it at all. And this isthe real meaning of 
the story, and the truth to be taught. 


B. Notes 


Chapter vil. 17. The first plague. ‘*‘ Each year the 
water of the river becomes like blood at the time of 
the inundation ”’ (Sayce) and the water is rendered 
unhealthy by the substance in it. 


Chapter vii. 2. The second plague: Frogs. The 
inundation, before referred to, brings myriads of 
frogs, amounting sometimes to a real plague. 


Verse 16. The third plague: Lice; rather gnats or 
mosquitoes which arise from their breeding-grounds 
in stagnant waters. 


Verse 21. The fourth plague: Flies. ‘‘ The south 
wind constantly brings flies in swarms, and their 
germ-carrying habits make them a peril as well as 
an annoyance ”’ (Peake). 


76 How to Teach the Old Testament 


Chapter ix. 3. The fifth plague: Murrain. This 
might have been caused by flies. A very severe 
cattle plague in Egypt was traced to the Nile. 

Verse 9. The sixth plague: Boils. The Nile scab, 
“an irritating eruption ... which is frequent in 
Egypt at about the time when the Nile begins to 
rise in June, and remains for some weeks upon 
those whom it attacks” (Driver). Skin diseases 
are frequent in Egypt. 

Verse 18. The seventh plague: Hail. In verse 23 
the “‘fire’”’ is lightning. 

Verse 82. ‘“‘rie’’ is spelt, a coarse grain out of which 
bread was made. 

Chapter x. 4. The eighth plague: Locusts. Not usual 
in Egypt, but reported several times by travellers, 
due to weather conditions. They were brought by 
the east wind. The best description of the locust 
plague is in Joel 2. 

Verse 21. The ninth plague: Darkness; due to a 
sand storm ‘‘ which brings a blackness worse than 
fog in a city and makes the air so hot that men can 
hardly breathe” (The Bible for Youth, p. 17) 
Often known in Egypt. 


C. The Lesson 


1. This lesson should be introduced by a vivid 
description of the dramatic situation. Moses (leader 
of a mob of slaves) appearing before Pharaoh (ruler of 
one of the greatest empires of the time). Parallels are 
easily found in Knox before Mary, and Luther before 
the Diet of Worms. ‘“‘ Here stand I. I cannot other- 
wise. So help me, God.” 


2. The main story arranges itself in a series of pictures 





The Plagues Us 


quite naturally. The visits of Moses to the court, the 
description of the accompanying plagues, and how one 
springs naturally from the preceding. These plagues 
were natural events, but with God behind them as He 
is behind all providential events. The impressions made 
on Pharaoh, his gradual weakening and final surrender. 


3. But the story must be so told as to bring out that 
the real drama was that which went on in Pharaoh’s 
soul. Notice the four times he felt the impact of God’s 
agency : (1) after the fourth plague (85) ; (2) after the 
seventh (927); (8) after the eighth (10'"); and (4) 
after the ninth (1074). Here we see a man struggling 
against God and God’s will, and ‘‘ hardening ’’ himself 
against the truth. The result of this was that he became 
more and more insensible to it. The real tragedy in 
any life (and this can be taught in a very simple way) 
is when you feel ““I ought” and yet refuse to obey. 
If that is repeated often it means moralruin. It means 
that by and by conscience and God cease to be heard, 
and that is the worst that can happen to anyone. All 
this happens according to God’s law that what a man 
sows he shall reap; and it is just. The obvious lesson 
is to “‘ follow right in the scorn of consequence.” 


XVI. THE PASSOVER 
DELIVERANCE 
Exopus 12 and 13 


A. For the Teacher 


1. There are three points of special interest in the 
account of the Passover: the sacrifice of the lamb, the 





78 How to Teach the Old Testament 
sprinkling of the door-posts with blood, and the seven 
days’ feast of unleavened bread. Scholars tell us that 
these all represent primitive customs. A spring festival 
was held among many tribes to seek Divine protection 
for the year’s produce. At the festival pastoral tribes 
offered the firstlings of their flocks, agricultural people 
the produce of the soil, meal or parched corn. 
Associated with this is the rite of eating parched corn 
or unleavened cakes. ‘The third rite, sprinkling of 
blood, was an ancient custom celebrated, e.g., on going 
to a new house, to prevent misfortune or disease coming 
to the people of the house. The Mexicans in the fifteenth 
century smeared leaves with their own blood and hung 
them up on their door-posts to propitiate their deity. 
‘Such parallels are a great help to us; for they show 
that the idea of God seeking to slay and being propiti- 
ated with blood, is not part of the teaching of Moses, 
but a survival of primitive superstition, which he could 
not altogether do away ”’ (Glazebrook). The Passover, 
then, was an old custom, only now it began to be kept 
with a new meaning. 


2. The Death of the First-born. It is to be remembered 
(Lesson XV) that the events here narrated are separated 
from the earliest narrative of them by hundreds of 
years. This is one of the details which have probably 
been magnified by tradition. The last plague was a 
pestilence which carried off many young people, and 
this was regarded as a Divine punishment. The in- 
fluenza epidemic in 1918 in Egypt carried away ‘‘a 
large proportion of young people’”’ (Redlich). ‘‘ The 
number of eldest sons appearing in The Times obituaries 
of officers in 1914-1915 was such as to suggest to some 
minds the idea of an evil fate ”’ (Peake). 





The Passover 79 





B. Notes 


Chapter xii. 2. the beginning of months. Abib, 
which corresponds to part of our March-April, is 
to be the first month. ‘“ The critical months in 
autumn and spring, which closed and began the 
harvest, were natural starting points for the year 
among an agricultural people ’’ (Peake). 


Verse 8. bread: i.e. cakes. These were a flat kind of 
biscuit quickly baked, and still eaten by Bedawin. 
‘* Modern Jews make them a foot across and half 
an inch thick. The bitter herbs served as a salad.’ 
(Peake.) 


Verse 9. sodden: Old English for “‘ boiled ’’ (Glaze- 
brook). 


Verse 15. the feast of unleavened bread. Leaven was 
excluded as a corruption and a symbol of evil. 
Hence the demand for its removal. Paul (1 Cor. 
5&8, Gal. 5*°) and our Lord (Mark 815) make leaven 
symbolie of evil. 


Verse 22. hyssop: a wall or rock plant (marjoram ?) 
with leaves like a brush, useful for sprinkling. 


Verse 23. when he seecth: apparently, according to 
this particular source used in the story, the Israel- 
ites lived amongst the Egyptians, and not, as 
another source says, by themselves in Goshen. 


Verse 37. The numbers are quite impossible and 
indicate an enlargement by tradition. 


Chapter xiii. 9. a@ sign ...da@ memorial: meaning 
uncertain. Later the Jews took the words 
literally. Hence what are called “ phylacteries ”’ 
(Matt. 235), which were scrolls (containing passages 
from the Law) bound on the head. 


80 How to Teach the Old Testament 


C. The Lesson 


1. Introduction. The last of the plagues a great 
pestilence which carried off many of the youth of Egypt. 
This came to be regarded as a punishment from God 
and was perhaps sorepresented atthetime. At any rate 
it forced the hand of Pharaoh and compelled him to let 
Israel go. But before they went they celebrated, by God’s 
command, a festival which was an old custom, but now 
took on a new meaning because of the deliverance from 
Egypt, with which it was henceforth always associated. 


2. The Ceremonies. The killing of the lamb—a lamb 

without blemish of the first year—the sprinkling of the 
door-posts and lintel with a bunch of hyssop—the 
eating of the unleavened cakes with bitter herbs and 
with robes gathered up to the waist to leave the legs 
free, while they grasped their staff in their hands. It 
is a picture of men standing ready for a hasty journey. 


8. The Meaning. Each part of the ceremonies had 
a meaning. The lamb and the sprinkling of the blood 
were sacrifice to God for the people’s protection. The 
unleavened cakes indicated the haste of the escape ; 
they had no timeto leaventhem. The bitter herbs were 
to keep them in memory of the misery of Egypt. The 
staff was the symbol of the journey they were beginning. 


4, Deliverance. The whole significance of the Pass- 
over and its ceremonies can be summed up in one word 
—Deliverance. That was the meaning it bore all 
through the Jews’ history. The Feast was a celebra- 
tion of the grace of God, and as the people came to know 
more of Him in their own history the Feast came to 
mean more and more to them. The truth in it for us 
is that the same God is the Redeemer and will always 


The Passover 81 


save His children from all misery and bondage when 
they cry to Him. [Illustrate by the two minutes’ 
silence kept as a memorial of the deliverance bought 
for us by the sacrifices of the Great War. 


5. The Passover and the Lord’s Supper. This is also 
the meaning of the connection between the Passover 
and the Lord’s Supper. God has redeemed men in 
Christ from the bondage and misery of sin. This is 
what is assured to us in the Holy Supper, which is the 
Christian Passover. ‘“‘ Christ our Passover is sacrificed 
for us, therefore let us keep the feast ; not with old 
leaven . . . but with the unleavened bread of sincerity 
and truth” (1 Cor. 57°). 


XVII. THE CROSSING OF THE RED SEA 
MAN’S EXTREMITY GOD’S OPPORTUNITY 
Exopus 1817-1521 


Date 1230 B.c. 


A. For the Teacher 


1. The Importance of the Event. In some ways the 
most important in the history of Israel. “‘ It was then 
that Israel had had her first great historical experience 
of redemption ; indeed, it was, at least in part, her escape 
from Egypt that made her later national career possible ; 
and that redemption is concentrated, as it were, in the 
crossing of the Red Sea’”’ (McFadyen). 

2. Its Historical Certainty. ‘‘ The event may be 
taken as one of the most surely attested . . . in Hebrew 
history.” This is the verdict of scholarship: the 

6 


82 How to Teach the Old Testament 


“ancient and incontrovertible evidence of Miriam’s 
Song, 157, is sufficient.”” (McFadyen.) 


3. The Miracle. .As in other cases, the miracle lay 
in the providential happening of a perfectly natural 
event. The route of the fleeing Israelites led them 
across an arm of the Red Sea which was quite narrow. 
The sea extended in ancient times farther north than 
it does to-day. Just north of where the sea ends 
now there is a sandy valley which even to-day is 
sometimes at high tide flooded. In earlier times 
it was probably an extension of the sea. What hap- 
pened was that a strong wind drove back the water 
at low tide and laid the passage bare. When the 
Egyptians followed, the tide had risen and the wind 
fallen and they were engulfed in the waters. So far 
from this being a unique event there are several parallels. 
Almost exactly the same thing occurred at the siege of 
Leyden in 1574, as Motley relates at length (History of 
the Dutch Republic, part iv, chap. 2). “‘ For an example 
of an army overwhelmed by the returning tide we need 
not look further than the history of our own King 
John” (Glazebrook). A similar incident is recorded 
in an account of the Crimean War at the Sea of Azoy. 
In the present case the “‘ miracle” is the sending of 
the wind at the hour of need. 


4, In connection with this lesson get the children to 
learn Psalm 77'**° or the glorious song Exod. 15. 


B. Notes 


Chapter xii. 18. Red Sea: really Reedy Sea. At Lake 
Timsah, to which the sea then extended, grow 
reeds which are not now found in the Red Sea. 





The Crossing of the Red Sea 83 

Verse 21. The Cloud and Fire: both are symbols of 
the Divine presence often found in the O.T. 
oud «nxod. 19% 18. BS eh ee en Nom 12 ee. 
Deut. 314. Fire: Gen. 1517; Exod. 2417; Psalm 
18 § 18, (Glazebrook.) 

Chapter xiv. 21. east wind. This would drive the 
waters northwards while the ebb would carry them 
south, leaving a dry space. 

Chapter xv. 1, ff. The Song of Moses. It is probably 
of David’s time or post-exilic. It implies settle- 
ment in Canaan (!%) and the building of the Temple 
(1”). The analysis of its structure is simple. It is 
a magnificent poem. 


Verse 15. dukes: leaders or sheiks of the clan. 
Verse 17. mountain: hill country of Palestine. 


Verse 20. timbrel. The tambourine was much used 
by the ancients in connection with the dance 
(Glazebrook). 


C. The Lesson 


1. This lesson attaches itself, of course, to the preceding 
events. The people were thrust out because of these 
events. Their route was south from Rameses, Etham, 
Succoth and Migdol, where they crossed the Sea. God 
led them, not by the short northern coast route, but 
“about by the way of the wilderness’ (1377*%). The 
one sufficient reason for this was that they were only 
a mob of slaves, and before they could take possession 
of Canaan they needed a long discipline to make them 
a strong organized force. 


2. The “steps” of this story are clear: (1) The 
hasty departure. (2) The Egyptian pursuit. They 





84 How to Teach the Old Testament 


realized that they had lost a treasure of unpaid service. 
(8) The peril of the Israelites between the enemy and 
the sea. Their bitter reproaches of Moses. Moses’ 
grand calmness and courage: “Stand firm and you 
will see how God will deliver you.” (McFadyen’s 
chapter on this is good.) (4) The crossing. (5) The 
Egyptians’ débacle. (6) Israel’s twofold deliverance 
from the sea and the enemy. (7) The Song. Try to 
visualize the whole scene, the panic and horror of the 
people in their plight, the menace of the Egyptian 
chariots, the calm figure of the great leader, God’s 
intervention. 


3. The outstanding truth here is the Sovereignty of 
God. Man’s extremity. His helplessness. His utter 
dependence on God. His one duty is to go forward 
to the task or responsibility before him in the confidence 
that God will see him through. This is the source of 
calmness and courage like those of Moses. Illustrate 
by the Great War, the Spanish Armada, Motley’s story 
of the Dutch Republic. The central incident here has 
countless parallels in the lives of well-known men. 


XVITI. MANNA AND QUAILS 
GOD’S PROVISION 


Exopus 157°", 16 


A. For the Teacher 


1. The Route. The differences of opinion as to the 
actual route taken by Israel in the wilderness show how 
uncertain the locality of the places named is. Glaze- 
brook thinks the Israelites struck right across the 


Manna and Quails 85 
desert of Paran. He puts Marah in that desert and 
Elim at the head of the Gulf of Akabah. On the whole 
the traditional route is more likely. It is down the east 
side of the Gulf of Suez, and Marah and Elim must be 
placed there. Sinai is then one of the peaks in the 
southern parts of the peninsula. MRedlich thinks we 
should not attempt to use a map at all for teaching 
these events. The country into which Moses led the 
people was one familiar to him in his previous experi- 
ence. It was full of danger and hardship for the people, 
danger from the wandering tribes (see Exod. 17), and 
hardship from the sterile nature of the land. 


2. The Miracle. We have here, as previously and 
subsequently, a “‘ natural phenomenon with a religious 
interpretation.”” Manna is a well-known product of 
that region. A species of tamarisk exudes a sweet 
juice from its trunk at night, in summer. This falls 
to the ground in the form of small pellets like corn. 
It is soon melted by the sun’s rays, but it can be boiled 
and strained so as to provide palatable food as sweet 
as honey. It is known to Arabs to-day and called by 
the same name. Quails are a species of birds which 
fly over this wilderness in their annual emigrations in 
great numbers. They fly with the wind and alight at 
night, covering the ground and quite exhausted. They 
are therefore easily captured. The coming of the 
manna and the quails are therefore natural events. 
The wonder lies in the quantity of both and the supply 
regularly provided at the word of Moses. The story 
would, however, be told often and the details heightened 
- in the telling. The main point, however, is this : is not 
the narrative right in saying simply that God sent this 
provision? A religious view of life, which asks God 





86 How to Teach the Old Testament 


a 





ee ee 


to “‘ give us our daily bread,” need have no hesitation 
about the answer. 


3. The teacher should read in connection with this 
lesson Numbers 11** and ***, the earlier narrative 
of the same events, where the quails are sent, not 
simultaneously with the manna, but some time after 
it and because the people were tired of the manna. 
Servants in Scotland used to stipulate that they would 
only get salmon once a day ! 


B. Notes 


Chapter xv. 22. Shur: this means “wall.” The 
‘‘ wall of Egypt ” was a line of fortifications which 
marked the eastern boundary of Egypt and pro- 
tected it from the incursions of nomad tribes 
(Glazebrook). 


Verse 23. Marah: bitter. In the desert water is often 
unpleasant to drink because of its bitter taste. 


Chapter xvi. 1. wilderness of Sin. Probably lying 
along the eastern boundary of the Gulf of Suez, to 
the west of Sinai. 


Verse 4. bread from heaven: i.e. from the skies. 

Verse 7. see the glory. God’s power will be apparent 
in the provision of the manna, 

Verse 10. glory of Jehovah: a brilliant glow of fire 
gleaming through the cloud, revealing God’s 
presence. 

Verse 15. manna: R.V. ‘“ What is it?” This is a 
popular account of the meaning of the word which 
is obscure. 


Verse 16. omer: originally a cup or bowl, but used 
by the Hebrews as a measure. It is about 6} pints. 





Manna and Quails 87 


Verse 17. some more, some less: according to the size 
of the family. 

Verse 19. Inthe East bread is baked every day fresh ; 
yesterday’s bread is not eaten (Driver). 

Verse 23. seethe: i.e. boil. 

Verse 31. coriander seed: a wild plant of Egypt and 
Palestine with small greyish seeds the size of a 
peppercorn. The seeds are used as spice and have 
a pleasant flavour (Driver). 
wafers: pastry made with oil and honey (Driver). 


C. The Lesson 


1. A Russian poet describes how once all the virtues 
were invited to a banquet in heaven. They behaved 
very nicely and were kind to one another. Two, how- 
ever, were strangers to each other, Benevolence and 
Gratitude. 


**They stared when they were introduced, 
On earth they never once had met.”’ 


That is an exaggeration, but the conduct of the Israelites 
shows how much truth there is in it. They had just 
experienced a great deliverance, but they soon forgot 
that and began to complain of their hardships. They did 
not yet understand or believe that God was with them. 


2. God’s Wonderful Patience and Goodness. The water 
sweetened for them, and manna and quails sent. 
What the manna and the quails were, and how they 
came. Was God behind their coming? Yes, as He is 
behind all our provision. Jesus teaches us to pray, 
** Give us this day our daily bread,” and thus tells us 
to realize how constantly we depend on a Heavenly 
Father’s goodness. The bread we eat comes from the 





88 How to Teach the Old Testament 


baker and the miller and the farmer. But it comes 
from God before any of them touch it. He ripens the 
harvest and sends the rain and sunshine. God is in 
all our life, the great Giver. However our blessings 
come to us, from parents or friends, they all come out 
of His hand. Sir Walter Scott wrote to a young man, 
“The older you grow the more you will be thankful 
that the finest of God’s mercies are common mercies.” 
‘* Back of the loaf is the snowy flour, 
And back of the flour is the mill, 
And back of the mill is the wheat, and the shower, 
And the sun, and the Father’s will.’’ 
—M. D. BAscock. 
3. And therefore it is only the truth that God is 
everywhere and in everything. Lots of people do not 
see this, and because they are blind they forget the 
hand that feeds and sustains them. Ingratitude is one 
of the worst of all sins, whether it be forgetfulness of 
earthly benefactors or of the Heavenly Benefactor. 
When Jesus healed the ten lepers, only one came back 
to thank Him. One out of ten! Let us not forget 
those to whom we owe much—parents, teachers, friends, 
helpers. Above all let us not forget Him to whom we 
owe all. Robert Burns wrote of one of his benefactors : 
‘The bridegroom may forget the bride 
Was made his wedded wife yestre’en ; 
The monarch may forget the crown 
That on his head one hour has been ; 
The mother may forget the child 
That smiles sae sweetly on her knee ; 
But Ill remember thee, Glencairn, 
And a’ that thou hast done for me.” 
And we, who are children of God’s love, should not be 
less grateful to Him. 


Israel at Sinai 89 


XIX. ISRAEL AT SINAI 
ANOTHER NEW THOUGHT OF GOD 
Exopus 19, 20 and 24 


A. For the Teacher 


1. ““Among all the scenes described in history or 
poetry, there is none more impressive than that of 
Sinai and the Giving of the Law. A whole people 
encamped upon the plain at the foot of a cloud-capped 
mountain, while their representative stands on the 
mountain-side to receive the revelation of the Deity 
who dwells amid the clouds. The lightning flashes all 
round, and a voice like a trumpet proclaims the new law 
which is to be the foundation of a great religion. We know 
that this wonderful narrative is not history but poetry. 
But it is poetry which makes a worthy setting for 
inestimable jewels of truth ’’ (Glazebrook, vol. 1, p. 289). 


2. What is “‘ history ’’ here? A great religious event, 
one of the greatest in the story of Israel, an event which 
was a step upward in the knowledge of God and of duty. 
(1) There was given a revelation of God which was 
new. Israel knew Jehovah at the Exodus as Deliverer. 
Now she learned that He was righteous and that He had 
a purpose to work out in her life. This meant a lofty 
thought of God, the Holy One, and of her own great 
destiny. (2) There was given also a revelation of 
duty. Religion and morality were now bound indis- 
solubly together as they were always afterwards in 
Israel. God would protect His people, but every 
promise of His was conditioned by their obedience. 
This is history. 


90 How to Teach the Old Testament 


3. The thought that summarizes all this is the thought 
that is dominant all over this narrative, that of a Coven- 
ant or Agreement between God and Israel. This was 
always the conception of religion in Israel. It was 
based on the old practice of two persons partaking of 
each other’s blood to bind them to an agreement (this 
explains Exod. 24°%). It is a dangerous idea, because 
it is apt to lead people to imagine that God is their 
Ally right or wrong. A “ covenant-keeping God”’ is 
a phrase liable to misuse. But it enshrines a great 
truth, that religion has two sides. God can only do 
good to those who are one with His will. 


4. What ts Poetry in this Narrative? All its splendid 
symbolism, the cloud, the fire, the storm, God writing 
with His “ finger,’’ the voice of the trumpet. As Dr. 
Sanday puts it, “the literal truth was that God spoke 
to the heart of Moses ; the poetic truth was that He spoke 
in thunder and lightning from the crest of Sinai” 
(quoted by Redlich). 


5. Some O.T. scholars have suggested that the 
Decalogue in its complete form was much later than 
Moses. I cannot see any convincing reason for believ- 
ing this. There is not a single idea in the Decalogue 
that could not belong to the time of Moses. No doubt 
the Commandments are mainly negative in form. But 
each one points to a positive principle of conduct. And 
Israel had to be warned against many things which 
they saw commonly practised around them. Hence 
“thou shalt not.’? The commandments are like a 
shelving beach that keeps out the destructive ocean. 
They are not final. Jesus showed this by His higher 
teaching. But they were a great step in the way forward. 


Israel at Sinaa 91 


—_—_.— 





6. The conception of God at this stage is still very 
imperfect. The idea that God punishes children for 
their parents’ sins roused a protest later in Israel 
(Ezek. 18). We no longer believe that God punishes 
one for another’s sins, though by heredity and owing 
to human solidarity one may suffer the results of 
another’s sin. We are punished only for our own sin, 


B. Notes 


Chapter xix. 1. wilderness of Sinai. The most likely 
situation of Sinai is in the southern part of the 
peninsula, in accord with the traditional view. 
The peak usually meant satisfies the conditions of 
the narrative. It is high, difficult of access and 
the scene of severe storms. 

Chapter xx. 38. before, rather ‘‘ beside,” exclusive 
worship. 


6 


Verse 8. holy means “ consecrated,” set apart. 


Verse 16. In a court of law. 


C. The Lesson 


1. Introduction. Every child realizes the import- 
ance of a new step in learning something. The day 
we begin Latin or French, or, still better, when we 
learn something great about a father’s or mother’s 
character or love. So Israel here. A great new lesson 
about God and about duty. 


2. TheScene. Sinai—fitting stage for so great an event. 
The cloud and storm, the great, high, far-off summit. 


3. All the preparations made show how great and 
solemn the occasion was: the washing of clothes, the 


92 How to Teach the Old Testament 


fencing off of the mountain, the messages Moses got for 
the people to prepare their minds. 


4, A great new truth about God was given—the truth 
that He chooses men to do great things, and helps them 
in the doing. He chose Israel and promised them His 
blessing ; and that is why Israel had so great a history. 
And all along, this was the thing that made her endure 
and be patient and struggle on, the thought that God 
had chosen her for great things. Every one of us ought 
to learn the same about our own life. 


5. But there was also a great new truth about duty 
given to Moses. If God is to bless us we must let Him 
do it. We must do what He says. We must obey 
His Law. Nothing can take the place of this. Wor- 
ship, faith, church-going—none of these things will 
please God if we fail to do His will, i.e. if we fail to be 
honest and truthful and faithful in our duty. God will 
accept nothing from us instead of that. We must 
strive to be like Him as well as to believe in Him. 


6. No doubt there was much Israel was yet to learn 
about God. Her ideas were still imperfect. But this 
one thing she did learn through Moses, that God is a 
holy God and seeks holiness in His children. 


XX. THE GOLDEN CALF 
IDOLATRY 
Exopus 382 


A. For the Teacher 


1. From the historical point of view, i.e. for the 
understanding of the story of Israel which we are read- 


The Golden Calf 93 


ing, the chief interest of this narrative is the light it 
casts on the religious condition of Israel at this period. 
(1) Their inability to realize the presence of an unseen 
God with them. They had to get at something visible 
to represent Him. We cannot condemn them too 
severely since most people to-day are in the same 
condition. We also put all sorts of things in place of 
God, churchgoing, sacraments, creeds, forms, and are 
satisfied to rise no higher. (2) The influence on Israel 
of the customs of Egypt. Some scholars say the golden 
calf was not the result of Egyptian influence. But 
this seems a mistake. The people could not have lived 
hundreds of years in Egypt without many traces of this 
contact, and in Egypt Apis was represented by a bull. 


2. The very severity of the punishment meted out 
to the people shows the place idolatry had in their life 
all through the history. It was the sin against which 
the prophets waged war continually. In Palestine 
the presence of Canaanites living in the midst of Israel 
with their sensuous nature-worship was a constant 
temptation. Here so early was the national sin already 

rampant. 


3. From the religious point of view, the interest of 
the narrative is the relation of religious faith to externals. 
This story gives a good opportunity for a simple explana- 
tion of the meaning of the Christian Sacraments (see 
below). 


B. Notes 


Verse 4. calf: rather “ bull.” 
molten. Probably the core of the image was of 
wood. It was overlaid with gold. Hence it could 
be ground to powder. 


94, How to Teach the Old Testament 


—_— 


Verse 5. The calf only represented Jehovah, since it is 
regarded as having led the people from Egypt. 


Verse 6. eat and drink : i.e. in the sacrifice. In ancient 
times a sacrifice was a meal shared with the god 
by his worshippers. 
play, 1.e. music and dancing. 


Verses 11, ff. Note the four motives urged on God for 
mercy. 


Verse 14. repent. God is often represented as repent- 
ing that He had done this or that. This means 
not that He had changed His purpose but that He 
had changed His action in response to a change of 
conduct in man. It is a “‘ human” way of speak- 
ing of God. Moses interceded for the people and 
God was merciful in response to his prayer. 

Verse 19. Dancing was always a religious ceremony in 
ancient times. Cf. David dancing before the Ark. 
‘** In the East dancing was, and is, the language of 
religion.” 

Verse 25. for a derision. ‘The enemies would sneer at 
the people, who had boasted of God’s leadership, 
deserting Him thus. 

Verse 30. make atonement: i.e. by intercession. 

Verse 31. returned: to the mountain. 

Verse 82. book: the roll of God’s people in Israel. 
The image is borrowed from the custom of keeping 
registers of citizens. It is not “‘ the book of life” 
of the N.T. This is a noble passage in Moses’ life. 
Cf. Paul’s similar prayer (Rom. 9%). 


C. The Lesson 


1. Introduction. The great truth of God’s presence 
with us always which Jesus has declared to us. Can 


The Golden Calf 95 


we believe it? Israel could not, at least without Moses 
to help them. And therefore they put something in 
place of God which they could really see. How did 
this happen ? 


2. The Story. These are the steps or mental pictures. 
(1) The long delay—Where was Moses ?—Give us a 
leader we can see! Aaron’s weak compliance. The 
great festival and sacrifice with feasting and dancing. 
(2) The wrath of God—He will destroy the people, but 
is diverted from this by Moses’ prayer. (3) Moses’ 
return tocamp. His savage punishment of the offenders. 
(4) Moses and Aaron, Aaron’s weak excuses. (5) The 
fury of the Levites and their fierce judgment on the 
people. (6) Moses’ splendid intercession, so Christlike 
in its spirit and a noble close to this distressing episode. 


3. The Meaning of the Incident. 

(1) It means that one of the sins we most easily fall 
into is to put something in place of God. This is one 
of the greatest of all temptations, e.g. money, success, 
fame, position, clothes, games. God must come first 
in our hearts. That is the meaning of religion. 

(2) We, like Israel, find it difficult to be sure that 
God is with us. And because God knows this, He has 
given us something to remind us of Him and to lead 
our thoughts to Him. The Church and the Bible and 
the Sacraments are for this purpose. Baptism reminds 
us that God is our Father and loves us. The Lord’s 
Supper reminds us that Christ is always with us to help 
us. But however sacred these things are they must 
never make us forget that it is God Himself we are to 
trust and love and live with by prayer and service 
every dav 


96 How to Teach the Old Testament 





XXI. WANDERINGS 
. DISCIPLINE 
NUMBERS 10?2°—14, 16, 20 and 21 


A. For the Teacher 


1. The Route. This lesson deals with the ‘‘ wander- 
ings”’ of Israel in the “ wilderness’ and some of the 
incidents of these years. The locality of many of the 
places named is quite uncertain. But, assuming (with 
most scholars) that Sinai is in the south of the peninsula, 
we can trace the general lines of the journey clearly 
enough. The peninsula is bounded on the north by 
the wilderness of Zin, on the east by the wilderness of 
Sin, on the west by the wilderness of Shur (along the 
Gulf of Suez), and on the south by Horeb and Sinai. 
Kadesh (the second headquarters of the people) is 
either in the centre of the wilderness of Paran (which 
occupies the centre of the peninsula) or at the eastern 
edge of it, and Mount Hor to the east of it in the Seir 
range. These are the fixed points. A general des- 
cription is all that is necessary. 


2. Two Problems. Some of the incidents in this 
lesson raise questions about two matters: the miracles 
of judgment recorded, and (in connection with them) 
the character of God as displayed in them. Here the 
results of the criticism of the O.T. help us. The main 
results of that criticism are two: (1) that the narratives 
date from some hundreds of years after the events, and 
(2) that the first six books of the Bible are a single 
historical work compiled out of several sources (of very 
different dates) and combined by an editor. It is clear 








Wanderings 97 


then that events such as those narrated here may have 
been heightened and coloured in course of time with 
telling and re-telling, and also that deaths which may 
have occurred in connection with revolts against Moses’ 
authority would (by Hebrew custom) be attributed to 
a Divine Judgment. We may believe in the events 
without being committed to the ancient interpretation 
of them. And we must beware of teaching a story 
like this so as to give a false impression of God as a 
vengeful or arbitrary deity or so as to suggest that 
natural calamities are always a Divine judgment. 


3. The Main Point. We have in these chapters a 
vivid picture of the difficulties of a great enterprise 
and the troubles and worries of leadership. What we 
should aim at is to make clear the meaning and purpose 
of the long delay in reaching Canaan and of the diffi- 
culties that met Israel on the way. That is brought 
out in the lesson. 


B. Notes 


Chapter x. 30. mine own land. Israel was going north 
and Midian lay to the east. 

~Verse31. instead of eyes. Anative of the desert would 
discover wells and oases where others would miss 
them. 

Verse 83. the ark. The ark was a box of acacia wood 
which was the symbol of Jehovah’s presence. 


Chapter xi. 1. fire of the Lorp: lightning ? 


Verse 4. mixed multitude. The host included various 
elements (Arab and Egyptian) that had escaped 
with the Israelites. 

Verse 5. leeks, ete. All southern nations find these an 
acceptable garnishing to food. 


98 How to Teach the Old Testament 


Chapter xii. 1. Cushite woman: ‘“‘ Cushite’’? may be 
‘‘ Ethiopian ” or from a Cush in Arabia. If it is 
Zipporah, it is difficult to see how she could be 
called an Ethiopian. 


Verse 8. meek. The word refers to a humble attitude 
towards God, not towards man. 


Verse 4. tabernacle of congregation: rather “‘ tent of 
meeting,”? the tent where Moses met with God. 


Chapter xii. 17. southwards: “ by the South.” South 
with a capital always means the Negeb, the region 
between Canaan and the southern desert. 
the mountain: i.e. the hill country of Judah. 


Verse 29. Amalekites: a roving tribe that ranged 
over the whole southern wilderness. 
Jebusites : a tribe occupying Jebus, 1.e. Jerusalem. 
Amorites: a tribe dwelling in the hill country of 
Palestine. 
Hittites : a non-Semitic tribe dwelling to the north 
of Palestine. Elements of it may have lived in 
the country. 
Canaanites: those inhabiting the low-lying parts 
of Palestine. 


Chapter xiil. 82. that eateth up, etc.: i.e. by producing 
less than the inhabitants need for support. 


Chapter xiv. 40. up to the top of the mountain: i.e. 
into the hill country. 


Chapter xvi. 6. censers or firepans. 


Verse 14. put out the eyes: i.e. will you throw dust in 
their eyes ? 


Verse 30. the pit, rather Sheol, the name of the unseen 
world of popular belief, situated in the centre of 
the earth. 


Wanderings 99 


Chapter xx. 14. The request to Edom was due to 
Israel’s desire to attack Canaan from the east as 
they had already been defeated in the south (14%), 


Verse 17. the king’s highway: i.e. the regular caravan 
route. 


Chapter xxi. 4. discouraged: because there were 150 
miles extra of desert to traverse. 


Verse 24. Note that Israel is being fitted for conquest. 
There are unity and organization now. 


C. The Lesson 


1. The Road to Pisgah. North from Sinai to Kadesh, 
then to Mount Hor, then skirting Edom right up to the 
country of Moab by the Zered and the Arnon as far as 
Pisgah, the mountain range east of the Dead Sea. 


2. Episodes by the Way. Note (1) the constant 
murmurings of the people, at the manna, at the want 
of water, at the length of the way, at the danger from 
enemies, at the account of Canaan and its people. (2) 
The jealousy of Moses shown by Miriam and Aaron, by 
Korah, by Dathan and Abiram. This resulted in many 
unhappy conflicts in which the rebels suffered, later ages 
thought by the judgment of God. But we must beware 
of thinking that all suffering is a judgment, and still 
more of thinking that God is unjust or revengeful. 
He is the Heavenly Father, but this would only be 
learned by degrees. (8) The real dangers to the people 
from the hostile peoples on the march (like Edom), 
from the serpents of the desert. (4) The strain on 
Moses of all this. The burden was heavy on him, and 
it is not wonderful that his temper sometimes gave 


100 How to Teach the Old Testament 


way. (5) The report of the spies which roused anxiety 
and fear in many. 


3. The Meaning of the Long Wilderness Journey. 
We can see the purpose of God in leading the people 
such a long way round. When they set out from 
Egypt they were a mob, not fit to conquer Canaan. 
They were trained and disciplined by the very difficulties 
of the desert. The wilderness was their school, to 
strengthen them from a mob into a disciplined army. 


4, This reveals one of the greatest truths of life, 
that we need difficulty and trial to make us men and 
women. The worst thing that could happen to any 
child is to have no difficulties. The greatest men 
have risen against the hardest conditions and been 
made by them. All complaints about difficulties are 
(like Israel’s) foolish because these are God’s way of 
making us strong. Quote from Browning’s Rabbit ben 
Ezra, *‘ Then welcome Earth’s rebuff.” 


XXIT. BALAAM 
FACING DUTY 
NUMBERS 22-24 


A. For the Teacher 


1. ‘The chapters which tell the story of Balaam 
are among the most striking and most beautiful in all 
the O.T. The personality of Balaam, the nature of 
his utterances, and the circumstances in which he 
appears, combine to inspire an extraordinary interest. 
And the manner in which the story is told is unsurpassed 
for dramatic power ”’ (Glazebrook). 


Balaam 101 


2. It should be noted that the centre of interest for 
the narrator lies in the beautiful oracles in which 
Balaam sees the future greatness of Israel already 
settled. The narrative is merely the setting for this 
wonderful prediction. The centre of interest for us, how- 
ever, liesin the character and actions of Balaam himself. 
The story is taken as a whole here, and the general im- 
pression of the narrative as a whole is given in the lesson. 


3. It is interesting to notice the superstitions pre- 
valent at this period, and for some time afterwards. 
The narrative is full of them. Balak uses sacrifice in 
order to dispose God to be favourable to his desire. 
The power of words themselves magically to bring 
about a result is implicitly trusted. (Cf. the story of 
the theft of the blessing by Jacob.) One place is 
regarded as more favourable to petition than another. 
See how Balak shifted Balaam about when he was 
unsuccessful. Also, notice that inspiration and blessing 
can be bought, according to Balak’s belief. Finally 
the power of speech in animals here is paralleled by 
the story in Genesis 2. 


4. Here, as elsewhere, we can easily trace the two 
main sources out of which the Hexateuch (the first 
six books of the Bible) was compiled. And here, as 
elsewhere, this analysis by scholars is a help. It is a 
difficulty for the pupil, e.g., to understand why Jehovah 
(22°) should first tell Balaam to go, and then (#7) be 
angry with him for going. The two passages are, 
however, from two different sources, one of which 
represented Balaam as going with God’s permission, 
the other as going without it. They are two different 
stories with different details. 





102 How to Teach the Old Testament 


B. Notes 


Chapter xxii. 5. Pethor: Pituru on the Euphrates, a 
month’s journey away. 


Chapter xxiii. 1. Seven is a sacred number (Gen. 
2178 and Josh. 6%). 

Verse 7. parable: rather, discourse. 

Verses 7-10. Balaam’s first oracle. These four poems 
are independent compositions belonging to the 
time of David or Solomon, Israel’s Elizabethan 
ageofprosperity. (Cf.24%. Agag lived inthetime 
of Saul.) 

Verse 9. shall not be, etc. : i.e. is regarded as far above 
any of the nations owing to Jehovah’s favour. 
Verse 10. let me die: because the death of the righteous 

was long-deferred and peaceful. 


Verse 21. shout of a king: i.e. in honour of a king, 
i.e. Jehovah (cf. 1 Sam. 4°). 


Chapter xxiv. 7. Agag lived long after this period. 
Verse 10. smote his hands, a sign of scorn (ef. Job 


od ted 

Verse 17. notnow. The prediction refers to the distant 
future. 
star: the image for a king (Isa. 141°, R.V.; Rev. 
2218), 


C. The Lesson 


1. Introduction. We are at a crisis in the fate of 
Israel. She has finished her wanderings, conquered 
the Amorites, been strengthened and disciplined into 
a strong host, and now stands at the gate of Canaan. 
We draw our breath as we watch the fortunes of the 


Balaam 103 


people. Moab alone disputes her passage, for Moab is 
a pastoral people and fears the victory of Israel. 
Hence the efforts of her king to secure Divine aid against 
Israel. 


2. The Steps Balak Took. SBalaam, a noted seer, is 
sent for because Balak believes in the power of a seer’s 
words to bless or curse—Balaam’s desire to go and 
the struggle in his soul—consults God in order to feel 
encouraged to go—but determined to go all the same— 
meeting of Balak and Balaam—Balak does everything 
he can to help, sacrifices lavishly, goes from one spot 
that is unfavourable to another that may be better— 
nothing of any avail—Balaam can only speak what is 
given, however much he wishes to please Balak— 
Balaam tries hard to earn the large bribe offered—but 
in vain. In spite of himself he has to bless Israel— 
the beautiful poems he utters become more and more 
favourable to Israel, till in the last Moab’s overthrow 
by Israel is forecasted. One of the sources of the 
narrative tells us that, foiled in this way, Balaam 
suggested to Balak a far better way of getting what 
he sought (Num. 311° and references). 


3. A Picture of a Superstitious Age. The two 
things of special importance to us are, Balak’s effort 
to buy God’s favour and Balaam’s idea that he might 
persuade God to come on his side when he saw quite 
clearly that he ought not to go. It was this temptation 
and this delusion that led Balaam on. 

This shows us where Balaam’s error was. He knew 
the act was wrong yet he wanted to do it for his own 
advantage. He consulted God, but only to get God’s 
approval. He went to Balak against his own con- 





104 How to Teach the Old Testament 


science. He tried to get God’s sanction for what his 
conscience told him was wrong. If a man resolves to 
do a wrong thing and to gloss it over he can always do 
this. But it is the worst kind of sin. Cardinal Wolsey 
is an example of this, and his end is an instance of the 
reward this conduct usually gains. Macbeth is another 
instance (would not play false and yet would wrongly 
win). The lesson, of course, is to do the right always 
and in everything whatever the consequences, never 
to palter with truth or duty. Face the truth and the 
right and embrace it at once and without trying to get 
round it. Thus only can we preserve our honour and 
win God’s approval. 


XXII. THE DEATH OF MOSES 
UNFINISHED WORK 


DEUTERONOMY 384 


A. For the Teacher 


1. The death of Moses marks the end of one era and 
the beginning of another. He is the second, and 
probably the very greatest, of the great personalities 
that God raised up to direct the course of the sacred 
history. He founded a nation, gave it its religion, 
shaped its fundamental religious ideas, and was the 
fountain-head of its laws. He is a notable example of 
the influence of great personalities on the destiny of man- 
kind. This is a good opportunity for bringing this out. 


2. Moses was excluded from the Promised Land. 
He was condemned to die at the very brink of success 
and remain outside. Why? What was the sin that 


The Death of Moses 105 


caused so tragic a fate ? Unbelief, according to Numbers 
2012, But there is no sign of unbelief in Numbers 
20°", And indeed sublime faith is one of Moses’ 
notable qualities. Was one failure of faith sufficient 
to account for this terrible punishment ? This appeals 
to the mind of youth as unfair. Was it bad temper ? 
—but was indignation (very well justified) sufficient 
ground for his condemnation? As a matter of fact 
we have here, as constantly elsewhere, to distinguish 
between fact and interpretation. The fact was that 
Moses died, at the end of the long journey. This had 
to be accounted for, and several explanations are given. 
But we have a sufficient reason in the history itself. 
Moses had done a great work. What remained to be 
done (the conquest of Canaan) needed a younger and 
more vigorous man. God buries His workers and 
carries on His work. The real Agent was God. Moses 
had done one part of God’s commission; Joshua was 
to do another. 


3. The teacher may be confused between two truths 
which lie in this lesson. One is that sin (unbelief or 
another) may shut us out of blessing. The other is 
that all work and life are marked by imperfection. He 
will have to choose which he is to teach. It is the 
latter that is given here because it is the real lesson 
of Moses’ situation on Mount Nebo. 


B. Notes 


Verse 1. Pisgah. ‘“ Pisgah is the name for the line 
of cliffs which form the western edge of the table- 
land of Moab, which is about 8,000 feet above sea 
level. ... The top of Pisgah is a promontory 





106 How to Teach the Old Testament 


which runs out from this cliff, due east of the 
north end of the Dead Sea, and commands a view 
of almost all Southern Palestine ’? (Glazebrook). 
For this consult Smith’s Historical Geography of 
the Holy Land, which all teachers should possess, 
pp. 562, 653; also Henderson’s Palestine, pp. 71, 
72 and index. 

over against: i.e. in front of, or east. 


C. The Lesson 


1. Moses on the spur of Pisgah looking out on the 
land he was never to visit! A dramatic and touching 
scene. What were his thoughts? Of pain at his own 
disappointment ? Yes. But also of his unfinished 
work. He had brought the people so far, only to lay 
down his task uncompleted. What was the reason for 
this ? Several are given in the narrative. It is in one 
place looked on as a punishment for some sin. But 
in others it is said to be for the sake of the people (Deut. 
137, 376, 471), And this is the best explanation. 
It was for their sake, because they needed another and 
younger man to lead them to battle and conquest. 


2. But we must not forget what Moses had done and 
been. He was one of the greatest of all the great men 
God raised up. He showed a faith in God such as few 
have ever had. He was patient with the rebellious 
and discontented people. But there were even greater 
things. He founded the nation. Before his time 
they were a mob of slaves. Now they were an organized 
host, united, strong, warlike, and with a national feeling. 
Also, he founded the nation’s religion. He showed 
them what God was like, how holy, how just ; and how 
God had chosen them to be His people, and would 


The Death of Moses 107 


protect them and lead them, if they would do His will. 
He gave them their first laws, too, which were the 
foundation of their life. Thus, under God, this great 
man was. the creator of Israel. 


3. And yet, like every other human being, he had to 
leave his work incomplete. Tell the story of William 
the Silent and how he too perished on the borders of 
the promised! and; that of Keats—of R. L. Stevenson 
—of Hallam (who inspired In Memoriam), or any 
other. Show also how many die in youth with the 
promise unfulfilled. And indeed how we all can only 
do a little and leave so much undone. This is true of 
knowledge and of action. What is the meaning of it? 


4, One thing it means is that this life is only a little 
bit of the real life of any of us; and that we pursue our 
work in eternity. The other world is an interesting 
place because it is a place of work, of happy activity. 
This is the view of the future life to be given to children. 


5. Also it means that we are meant to find our satis- 
faction here not in finishing things but in labouring at 
them. Read to the older pupils Browning’s Gram- 
marian’s Funeral or the closing paragraph of Stevenson’s 
essay El Dorado: ‘‘To travel hopefully is a_ better 
thing than to arrive, and the true success is to labour.” 
Good work is not to be judged by its completion, but 
by the qualities of conscience and industry and love 
we put into it. 


XXIV. THE CALL OF JOSHUA 
JosHuA 1 
This Lesson to be taught on the model of Lesson XIV. 





108 How to Teach the Old Testament 


XXV. JORDAN AND JERICHO 
SURMOUNTING DIFFICULTIES 


JOSHUA 8, 4 and 6 


A. For the Teacher 


1. We stand now at the start of a new era in Israel’s 
history. It is clear from the whole tone of the 
narrative that the historian was very sensible of this. 
The time of preparation and waiting is over, and Israel, 
united and organized, is to address herself to the great 
task of the conquest of Canaan. Two great difficulties 
are before her. One is the nature of the country, full 
of hills and valleys and protected by the deep cleft of 
the Jordan. The other is the opposition of the native 
tribes. The two incidents before us illustrate these 
difficulties and the way in which they were overcome. 
That is why we take them together. If they are 
taught separately the teacher is referred for the first 
to the lesson on the crossing of the Red Sea (XVII). 


2. The Miracles. The two incidents illustrate two 
kinds of narrative dealing with miracle which meet us 
often in the O.T. (1) The crossing of the Jordan, like 
the crossing of the Red Sea, is a natural event happening 
providentially. A landslide occurred which for a 
time dammed the waters until they broke through the 
obstacle. ‘°* Jehovah’s care and love for His people 
was revealed by the opportune use of natural forces.” 
In a.p. 1257 a landslip occurred in the Jordan Valley 
and did exactly what is reported here (see MacFadyen, 
p. 87, and Peake, p. 250). (2) The collapse of the 
walls of Jericho is another kind of event. Excavations 





Jordan and Jericho 109 


at Jericho have revealed the remains of walls so strong 
as to surprise modern architects. What, then, are we 
to say to the narrative? ‘“‘ Jericho,” says Sir G. A. 
Smith, “‘is a city surrounded by resources. Yet in 
war she has easily been taken. That her walls fell 
down at the sound of Joshua’s trumpets is no exag- 
geration, but the soberest summary of all her history.”’ 
In other words, this is a poetical way of saying that 
Jericho, inhabited by an enervated people, gave way 
before the assault of faith and courage. The truth 
here is the help and power of God to which Israel owed 
victory. No walls, however strong, could stand against 
the will of God. Again we see that the essence of the 
story is true. The form of it is poetry but not exag- 
geration. 


3. The Massacres at Jericho. One thing that puzzles 
and distresses young readers is that every living thing 
(man, woman and child) in Jericho was “‘ devoted ” 
to destruction, and that this was done by Jehovah’s 
command. How can this be reconciled with what we 
are teaching the children about God, on the authority 
of Jesus? It cannot, and we ought to be clear about 
this once for all. The explanation is simple. To blot 
out your enemies, with their children, was the custom 
of the age. The Hebrews, therefore, believed this was 
right and their duty. And they naturally and rightly, 
from their standpoint, believed this was the will of 
God. Every religious mind will say that what we 
believe to be right zs the will of God. We ought to do 
nothing that we do not believe to be God’s will. But 
we may be mistaken, and we may learn better. Now 
the Hebrews were mistaken, and here again the great 
truth of the Progressiveness of Revelation comes to 


110 How to Teach the Old Testament 


————— 





our aid. God could only reveal the truth about Him- 
self and about conduct gradually. And Israel was 
still at a primitive ‘stage. 


B. Notes 


Chapter i. 15. Jordan overfloweth: “‘ Usually Jordan 
is about 100 feet wide, and shallow ; but in harvest 
time (April and May) it overflows its banks and 
attains a width of a mile ’’ (Glazebrook). This was 
what happened now. 


Chapter v.15. Put off thy shoes. In the East, where 
turbans are worn, reverence is shown by doffing, 
not the headgear, but the sandals. 

Chapter vi. 4. seven. Acts repeated seven times 


have, it is believed in the East, a magical efficacy 
(Glazebrook). 


Verses 17-19. accursed: R.V. ‘‘ devoted,” i.e. to 
destruction. ‘The word is the same as “ holy ” in 
19, belonging to God, and, in the case of living 
creatures, to be destroyed. 


C. The Lesson 


1. The death of Moses; and the new Leader. The 
new great enterprise needs youth and strength. It is 
a great task. Look at the map. The land is full of 
high hills and low valleys which were difficult for 
Israel because she had no chariots, and there were 
many fierce tribes to be overcome. 

2. This lesson shows us that no difficulties are too 
great to be overcome by faith and courage. Look at 
these difficulties here. 

(1) The Jordan. A deep gash in the earth’s surface, 


Jordan and Jericho 111 
about 1,200 feet here below the sea, with a river swollen 
by the winter rains. That was serious! But God is 
with His people and when they advance resolutely in 
faith He clears away obstacles. He used a thing that 
often occurs here, a landslide, to take the people over 
safely. And they ever after remembered this. 

(2) Jericho. Next came the famous “ City of Palm 
Trees,’ a city which was the key of the land. Here 
again faith and courage had their reward. The place 
fell before a people who feared nothing because God 
was with them. The story expresses this poetically 
by saying that the walls fell down flat. And that was 
the truth. Something happened here which needs to be 
explained, the statement that God commanded every 
living thing to be destroyed (see before). 


3. Now the great lesson in these stories is one that 
has been often amplified. When Mohammed was being 
sought by his enemies, and he and his one faithful 
follower were hiding in a cave, his companion said, 
“We are but two.” ‘No,’ said Mohammed, ‘* We 
are three; there is God.’ That faith enabled him to 
conquer all his enemies. The whole story of William 
of Orange shows the same thing. And that of Bruce 
and Alfred and Joan of Arc. 


4. We also with God’s help (which is never denied), 
with courage and faith can go forward to meet any 
difficulties. Jesus says that faith can remove moun- 
tains. ‘“‘ All things are possible to him that believeth ”’ 
(cf. Heb. 138 © ® with Josh. 15). When Bishop Patteson 
was in the South Sea Islands he had sometimes to face 
terrible danger. Not seldom an arrow was pointed 
at his breast. ‘‘ It was his custom to look the archer 


112 How to Teach the Old Testament 


full in the face with his bright smile, and that look 
of cheery confidence and goodwill made the weapon 
drop.” In a time of acute danger David Livingstone 
sat down and wrote in his diary, “I read that Jesus 
came and said, ‘ I am with you always, even to the end 
of the world.’ Itisthe word of a gentleman of the most 
sacred and strictest honour, and there is an end on’t.”’ 
In this confidence he faced the danger and it faded away. 


XXVI. ACHAN’S TRESPASS 
SIN AND ITS CONSEQUENCES 


JOSHUA 7 


A. For the Teacher 


1. The Incident. The story of Achan has a doubl 
interest, historical and moral. It shows how primitiv 
were the ideas of the people at this time, and even o. 
the narrator himself, about both sin and the character 
of God. The key to the moral and religious difficulty 
is again the fact that Revelation was necessarily a 
etrowth. The fierce punishment of Achan and his 
family was according to the custom of the time, and 
was naturally attributed to God because it was thought 
to be right. The story also presents an admirable 
opportunity for moral instruction. 


2. Corporate Responsibility. The reason why it was 
thought right that Achan’s family should be put to 
death with him is that the sense of individual respon- 
sibility had not yet been born. The whole clan or 
family was responsible when a member of it did an 
evil thing. The family was a whole and the act of one 





Achan’s Trespass 113 

‘as the act of all. This belief had its advantages 
ecause, in the absence of our modern police system, 
re family or clan would control the individuals. ‘Thus 
kind of primitive justice was the result, and no doubt 
1 the whole it worked for peace and order. Later, 
owever, the idea became intolerable when there was 
government that could punish the individual. And 

» we find Ezekiel (18) protesting against it and laying 
own the truth that every man should be punished only 
orhisown sin. This was a great discovery and was one 
f the notable stages in the development of the Jews. 


8. The word “accursed” occurs several times in 
this chapter. The real meaning is “* devoted,” i.e. to 
lestruction. The reason why things belonging to the 

snaanites were so devoted was that Israel was to keep 

self free of all taint. The latter history shows how 
sessary this injunction was, for the Canaanites, 
ing among the Israelites, were a constant source of 

il influence to Israel. 


B. Notes 


Verse 2. Az: probably a few miles south-east of 
Bethel. 


Verse 5. Shebarim: R.V. margin reads “to the 
quarries.” 
Jerse 6. put dust: a usual expression of grief (1 Sam. 
412, 2 Sam. 17). 
se 9.) "vohat wilt... name? What will the 
heathen think of Thee if Thou dost allow Thy 
people to be defeated ? The common idea that 
God’s favour means worldly success, persisted in 
even till to-day. 


8 


° 


114 How to Teach the Old Testament 


Verse 14. the Lord shall take ...i.e. by lot, the 
common way of finding out God’s will (1 Sam. 
1441, 10 20-24), 

Verse 19. give glory, etc. Sin has taken away God’s 
glory, confession can restore it (Glazebrook). 
Verse 21. Babylonish. Israel came from Babylonia 
and probably trade went on between the two 

countries. 


Verse 25. Stoning was the customary Jewish punish- 
ment. (Cf. the death of Stephen.) 


C. The Lesson 


1. Achan’s Sin. Theft due to greed. But notice its 
gravity. It was disobedience to God. It was dis- 
honesty. And it was disloyalty to his own people, 
because they were on their honour not to touch any- 
thing belonging to the enemy. It was therefore a sin 
against his people and against God. 


2. Lis Result. The defeat at Ai is attributed directly 
to this sin. And the deep truth in that is that sin 
inevitably weakens the will because it corrupts the 
conscience. Shakespeare (Henry VI) says: 

‘* What’s stronger breastplate than a heart untainted ? 
Thrice is he armed that hath his quarrel just ; 


And he but naked, though locked up in steel, 
Whose conscience with injustice is corrupted.” 


Also note how the evil in one spreads like a miasma. 
One boy will poison a class in school or college or home 
or workshop. One sin, therefore, will corrupt not only 
the sinner but many others. How hard it is for a 
prodigal’s family to hold up their heads in the world! 


3. Its Punishment. The horrible death by stoning 





Achan’s Trespass 115 


and burning was according to the custom of the time. 
The punishment of the family with Achan was also 
due to custom. The conception of God as a fierce, 
harsh Being was due to the imperfect knowledge of 
God. It was not God, but the ideas of the time that 
slew Achan and his family. Of course the idea that 
we are punished for the sin of others is untrue. God 
never punishes one for another’s sin. The idea that 
He does is one from which Israel grew away (Ezek. 
18). At the same time it is irue that sin is always 
punished. Not by physical death or misfortune neces- 
sarily. Youare not to imagine death or misfortune the 
punishment of sin. But sin never escapes, and the 
punishment is always Just because God is not only lov- 
ing but righteous also. Sin never escapes, as we can see in 
hundreds of instances. Yet God is always anxious to 
save the sinner from his sin and turn his punishment 
into a blessing. Tell the story of Romola as an instance 
of retribution and use the fable of the Furies in Greek 


mythology. 


XXVIT. THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN 
THE VICTORY OF FAITH 


JupcEs 1, 8°’; JosHua 15® 


A. For the Teacher 


1. An Imperfect Conquest. The passages cited above 
show that the possession of Canaan by Israel was very 
partial. Israel conquered the hill country. The 
Canaanites remained in the lower plains and valleys. 
The result of this was very important. It meant that 





116 How to Teach the Old Testament 


a subtle and dangerous religious influence was being 
exerted all the time. The sensuous worship of Baal 
was very attractive to a simple people, and Israel was 
deeply tainted with it. So much so that from this 
time the constant theme of reformers and prophets 
was the evil of idolatry. It was the “enemy.” This 
provided Elijah’s task. And also that of Amos and 
Hosea. 


2. Isolated Efforts. The conquest, besides being 
imperfect, was made by a series of individual efforts 
on the part of the tribes. It is a mistake to suppose 
that the campaigns and heroic deeds recounted in the 
book of Judges were those of “ Israel.’’ They are 
accounts of the sporadic movements of separate tribes. 
Ehud was leader of a Benjamite effort, Gideon of a 
movement by Ephraim and Manasseh, Samson of one 
by Dan, Othniel of one by Judah. The campaign 
against Sisera was the nearest approach to a confederacy 
of the tribes that was reached. Each of these warlike 
movements was led by a tribal hero. These men are 
called “ judges,’’ but the word means “ deliverer ”’ 
also, and they were really tribal heroes who, like Gari- 
baldi, headed important patriotic campaigns, and then 
ruled the tribe for a time. As a matter of fact this 
was Israel’s “‘ heroic period’’ and may be illustrated 
and paralleled by the state of England in the time of 
Alfred. The fight was bitter on all hands, for there 
were many powerful enemies who were more civilized 
than Israel herself. 


3. Anarchy and Disunion. It is not wonderful that 
the condition of the land was chaotic. There was no 
settled government, and people did what was right in 


The Conquest of Canaan 117 








their own eyes (Judges 176), This was due, first of all, 
to geographical conditions. The land of Palestine is 
made up of hills and valleys, and the differences of 
climate and country are so great that the people in- 
habiting the land have always been tribes, never a 
homogeneous people. The barriers made by nature 
have separated them off from one another. Another 
reason for the want of unity was the jealousy of the 
tribes. Several of them claimed primacy and none was 
willing to yield it. Deborah’s Song makes this clear. 


4, Primitive Conditions. The results of the disunion 
referred to were: (1) A primitive sort of government. 
The “ Cities of Refuge’ are an instance. If there had 
been a strong government there would have been no 
need for these. They were a proof that there was no 
real authority. (2) A low moral standard. Deeds of 
violence were common, property was insecure, blood 
feuds were waged (see the stories of Micah, Jael, Samson, 
Khud). Yet there burned the fire of a true patriotism 
and the story of Ruth shows the existence of a pure 
family life. (8) A backward religious condition. The 
story of Micah in Judges 17, 18 is a vivid picture of 
the naive religious ideas of the time. Images were 
used. Anyone could be a priest, though an official 
was preferred. Still there are signs of a genuine religious 
life. It was religion that inspired the “ judges.” The 
rise of Nazirites with their lofty ideals shows the reality 
of religion. The appearance of prophets in Samuel’s 
time must have been prepared for by a real religious life. 


5. Transition. It must not be forgotten that this 
period is an important one because it saw the passage 
of Israel from a nomadic, pastoral life to an agricultural 





118 How to Teach the Old Testament 


life. They left the open steppe “‘ with its free life and 
severity ’’ and settled down to cultivate land as farmers. 
It was a momentous change, in some ways very much 
for the worse. Religiously and morally it was, for a 
time at least, a step down. The Canaanites were 
among the Hebrews. The latter needed to learn much 
from them, they intermarried with them (Judges 3°”), 
and the result was an influence for evil morally and 
religiously. 

6. Power of Faith. In spite of all the foregoing, 
Israel conquered. And moreover the religion of 
Jehovah conquered the religion of Baal. And the 
reason is to be found in the true and living faith that 
burned in Israel. The torch never was put out. Moses 
had lit it and the victory of Israel is a great witness to 
the work of Moses. The leaders who rose at this time 
were believing and faithful men. Israel came through 
because she clung to Jehovah. This is the victory 
that overcometh the world, even our faith. 


XXVIII. DEBORAH 
SHIRKERS AND HEROES 
JUDGES 2, 4 and 5 


A. For the Teacher 


1. The Book of Judges. This book consists of a 
series of heroic tales set in a framework of editorial 
comment. The editor’s comment is a kind of philo- 
sophy of history. ‘* The children of Israel forsook the 
Lord and went after other gods. As a result they were 
overcome and oppressed by an enemy. Then they 


Deborah 119 





——_—_<__ 


cried to the Lord and He raised up a deliverer.”’ That 
is the invariable account of these incidents. It is a 
good philosophy, the only defect being that the editor 
regards the stories as describing the action of all Israel 
in each case, whereas the stories themselves tell us 
that the incidents were experiences of detached tribes 
against local enemies. 


2. Age of Transition. It must be remembered that 
this was a period when Israel was “finding its feet.’’ 
Israel was being slowly forged in the fire of trial into 
a nation. It was a period of fierce fighting and may 
be called Israel’s heroic age. It reminds us of England 
in the time of Alfred, or Scotland in the time of Wallace 
and Bruce. Naturally the morality of the time was 
primitive. The terrible things done by Jael and 
Gideon and Samson and Ehud were characteristic of 
a rough period; and Deborah’s approval of Jael’s 
treachery only shows that the knowledge of right con- 
duct was as much a growth as the knowledge of God. 


3. There are two accounts of the story of Deborah 
and Barak, one in prose and one in poetry. The poem 
belongs to the period when the events occurred. It is 
the oldest poem in the Bible and has been described 
(by R. H. Hutton) as “the greatest war song of any 
age or nation.”” It gives a vivid account of the state 
of the nation at the time, as well as of the battle and 
its sequel, and should be read to the class at the close 
of the lesson. 


4. The Plain of Esdraelon. The battle took place in 
the broad plain which stretches from the sea to the 
Jordan. This was the “cockpit” of Palestine. Many 
of the great battles of sacred history took place here. 


120 How to Teach the Old Testament 


It was a kind of football pitch to which opponents 
resorted to settle their differences (see G. A. Smith or 
Henderson’s Palestine). 


5. As noted before, the evils of this time were largely 
due to the disunion among the tribes. This was partly 
the result of jealousy and of course resulted in Israel 
remaining for long weak and unsuccessful. The greatest 
effort made for union was Deborah’s summons to the 
tribes to come to the help of the Lord. But only six 
responded, and Deborah denounces the others for their 
slackness. This was the only considerable effort at 
united action. Union came only later with the king- 
ship 


B. Notes 


Chapter iv. 2. Hazor: 8 miles south-west of Kadesh. 
Harosheth: on the west side of the Plain on the 
right bank of the Kishon. 


Verse 3. chariots of iron: shod with iron. The want 
of chariots was one cause of the Israelites being 
confined to the hilly country. They could not 
conquer the valleys. 


Verse 5. Ramah: north-west of Bethel. 


Verse 6. Kedesh-naphtali: just west of Lake Merom, 
different from the Kadesh in the south of Palestine. 
Tabor: a hill on the east side of the plain, an ideal 
post for the Israelite host. 


Verse 8. If thou wilt go... . Barak naturally wished 
to be assured of the presence of the prophetess 
who represented the help of God. 


Verse 14. 72s not the Lord gone out... Probably 
she pointed to the signs of a storm which would 
help the Israelites (Glazebrook). 


Deborah 121 


Verse 19. bottle of milk: i.e. a skin of milk. 


Verse 21. mnazl of the tent: i.e. a tent pin. It was a 
woman’s work to drive in the tent pins, therefore 
the hammer and pin would be familiar to her 
(Glazebrook). 

Chapter v. 4. out of Seir. God comes out of Seir in 
a thunderstorm. Seir was the range of which 
Sinai was a peak, some writers think. 

Verse 8. was there a shield? Israel had been disarmed 
by her oppressors. 

Verse 12. thy captivity: rather either 
** captors.” 

Verse 14. Machir: Manasseh. 

Verse 17. Gilead: used for Gad, who lived there. 

Verse 19. Yaanach and Megiddo: at the south-west 
of the Plain. 
took no gain: i.e. fought for fame not money. 

Verse 20. stars... fought. This refers to the storm 
which filled the Kishon and made the Plain a bog. 

Verse 21. river Kishon. A stream that in summer is 
very small, but in winter is swollen to a torrent. 
It rises in Gilboa and flows to the sea. The 
Canaanites had to cross it when the storm had 
made it dangerous. 

Verse 25. butter: rather curdled milk, which is a 
creat delicacy among the Bedawin even to-day. 


¢ 


* captives ”’ or 


C. The Lesson 


1. The condition of the tribes (see the Song). Dis- 
union. Selfishness. Separate conflicts with separate 
foes. Here, in this story, the greatest of them all, 
because it was an effort to bring all the tribes together 


122 How to Teach the Old Testament 


2. The Story. (1) The summons of Deborah to the 
tribes to rouse them to the help of the Lord. (2) The 
gathering of the tribes. Those that came, those that 
refused. Deborah’s scathing denunciation of the latter. 
(8) The battle of the.Plain. Position of Israel on the 
slopes of Tabor. The storm which made the Plain a 
bog and made the chariots of the Canaanites useless. 
The charge of the Israelites and its overwhelming 
success. (4) Flight of Sisera and the treachery of 
Jael. (5) The tragic picture of Sisera’s mother waiting 
in vain for her son. 


3. The call of God and how men respond to it. The 
two classes, Shirkers and Heroes. How we saw the 
Same situation in the Great War. Patriotism means 
sacrifice. Religion means sacrifice. Three great 
examples of this: Joan of Arc, Florence Nightingale, 
and Jesus. The call of to-day. 


4, Read the Poem, Judges 5. 


XXIX. GIDEON 
GOD’S USE FOR THE HUMBLE 


JUDGES 6-8 


A. For the Teacher 


1. Few stories are more enthralling to the child than 
that of Gideon. The fleece, the test at the stream, 
the lamps and pitchers, the dream and the rout—are 
all favourite episodes. But, just because of this, the 
teacher must keep always in view a single motive in 
the lesson and not be taken off to side-issues. The 
main point is what a humble man can do if God is with 


Gideon les 





him. The moral defects in the hero are just the defects 
of his time, his cruelty to the two chiefs, his relapse into 
idolatry. Gideon was not above his age, but he was 
God’s man and gave his life to the purpose of God, and 
this is the one thing to be dwelt on. Gideon could not 
have done his work if he had not been a man of his age. 


2. The Midianites were a Bedawin people who 
roamed over the country south of Canaan. They de- 
scended on Canaan just when the harvest was ready and 
earried it off. They made a series of raids and did not 
stay in the country. Their opportunity lay in the 
disunion and weakness of the tribes. Their special prey 
was the fertile district north of Judea in which Manasseh 
and Ephraim were settled. 


B. Notes 


Chapter vi. 2. dens and caves. The hill country of 
Palestine is limestone and therefore easily broken 
up. The country was full of caves which were 
used for refuge by robbers, for tombs to bury people 
(Jesus was buried in a cave), and for hiding-places. 


Verse 11. Ophrah: in Manasseh, near the Plain of 
Ksdraelon. 
winepress. Grain was usually threshed on an 
exposed height so that the wind could blow away 
the chaff. The winepress was a concealed hollow. 
Gideon used it to conceal his operations from the 
Midianites. 


Verses 20, 21. The food is turned into a sacrifice by 
the angel. 


Verses 22, 23. The common belief was that no one 
could see God and live (see Exod. 382°). 


Verse 24. Jehovah-shalom: Jehovah is peace. 


124 How to Teach the Old Testament 


Chapter vii. 1. ‘‘ Harod, a large spring which flows 
out of the foot of Mount Gilboa, into the valley of 
Jezreel ’? (Glazebrook). 

Moreh, Little Hermon: a hill 4 miles north of 
Harod. 


Verse 4. What was the test ? The simplest answer is 
that the men who kept their eyes on the foe while 
drinking and thus were ready were chosen. They 
revealed their character unconsciously, as we all 
do in unguarded acts. 

Verse 13. Dreams were considered to be a revelation 
of God’s will. The cake of barley bread repre- 
sented Gideon and his small band. Barley bread 
was the food of the poor. The tent represented 
the nomad Midianites. 

Verse 19. middle watch: about eleven o’clock. 


Verse 22. All these places are on the route to the east 
in the Jordan valley and beyond. 

Verse 25. Oreb and Zeeb: i.e. Raven and Wolf. 
Animal names for tribes are common among Arabs. 

Chapter vii. 1-8. “A soft answer turneth away 
wrath.”’ 

Verse 8. Penuel: near the Jabbok on the east of 
Jordan. 

Verse 16. Gideon’s cruelty is characteristic of the 
time. Cf. David’s act (2 Sam. 12%}), 

Verse 22. Rule thou. A first tentative effort at getting 
a king. 

Verse 24. Harrings were worn by men, noserings by 
women (Glazebrook). 
‘* Ishmaelites”’ is a term used for nomad tribes as 
commonly as Midianites (see Gen. 377°), 


Verse 26. About 170 lbs. 





Gideon 125 

Verse 27. An ephod is by some supposed to have 

been an image of Jehovah. So powerful was the 

influence of the Canaanite neighbours. From this 
time we see the same thing often. 


C. The Lesson 


1. Another story of the heroes by whom the land was 
won and the enemy defeated. 


2. The Story. The steps are as follows: (1) The 
raids by nomad tribes (6**). (2) The call of the young 
farmer to deliver his people (6***). (8) The first act 
of his zeal, destruction of Baal’s altar (6*°*?). (4) The 
signs (6%), (5) The test (71%). (6) The dream 
Pee ene rout (4) 4 oS dbhe pursuits (8 4"). 

3. Lay aside the defects of Gideon. He was a man 
of his time, as all the Bible characters were. They had 
to learn very slowly what goodness means, and they 
were far back. But in one thing Gideon stands out 
for us, he gave himself to God to be used for His ends 
and trusted God and took God with him, and so God 
used him to do a great service. 


4, Parallels to this in the Bible: David the shepherd 
boy; Amos the herdman; Andrew the fisherman ; 
Joseph the prisoner. In history: Joan of Arc ; Luther 
the miner’s son ; Carey the Northampton cobbler, who 
became one of the greatest of missionaries ; and Giotto, 
a shepherd lad, who became one of the greatest painters 
in history, and the pioneer in Christian art. Or tell 
the story of Zita, the little servant-maid of Lucca in 
Italy. She had a small wage, but she saved up every 
penny she could and bought cloth which she made into 
garments for the poor in her few spare hours. She 


126 How to Teach the Old Testament 


did this all through a long life during which she remained 
in one situation. Her deeds became known all over 
Italy, and after her death the Pope made her a saint. 
She is called Santa Zita, and all the servant maids of 
Lucca gather at her tomb once ayear on her birthday, and 
place flowers on it. Think of the influence of such a life ! 


5. What a humble man can do who has faith in God 
and courage in his heart. Note these points: (1) How 
much needs to be done to-day by courageous men. (2) 
We also may have doubts of our ability to do anything. 
So had Moses and Jeremiah and others. But it is not 
our merit that counts but our willingness, and God’s 
power. (3) The humblest instrument when fitted by 
God can do the greatest deed for the world. 


XXX. JEPHTHAH 
PROMISES 
JUDGES 11-127 


A. For the Teacher 


1. Another local conflict. Interesting because the 
tribe concerned (Manasseh) was on the east side of Jor- 
dan, and also because the story presents another instance 
of the wild savagery of this period of transition. The 
freebooter, the horrid vow, the massacre at the Jordan 
—all this sets the “ heroic’’ age before us in its true 
colours. 


2. Jephthah’s Vow. It is surprising that there should 
be any controversy as to whether Jephthah carried out 
his vow. The narrative tells us he did. There would 





Jephthah 127 
be nothing abhorrent to the man of that age in the 
sacrifice of even a loved daughter. The fact that efforts 
are made to prove that Jephthah did not do anything 
so cruel only shows how false an idea of inspiration is 
entertained. If we realize that people at this period 
were immature morally, even leaders and heroes whom 
God used, we shall have no difficulty. Jephthah was 
raised up to do one particular piece of work for God, 
but that does not mean that he was a mature Christian. 


3. There are two subjects suggested by the story, 
and teachers must concentrate on the one that is domin- 
ant. There is the subject of vows, and there is the 
beautiful spirit of loyal surrender to duty on the part 
of Jephthah’s daughter. The main point of the story 
is Jephthah’s conduct. If he vowed to sacrifice “* what ”’ 
first met him, not dreaming that it would be a person, 
then the question arises, Should a man keep a foolish 
and rash vow? If, on the other hand, he really meant 
a human sacrifice the answer is easy. From the point 
of view of his own age he was right, because such sacri- 
fices were common, and the tragedy fills us with horror, 
as well as admiration for father and daughter. In any 
case the point to be dealt with is that of the making and 
keeping of promises. 


B. Notes 


Chapter xi. 3. vain fellows: cf. 1 Sam. 222. 
Verse 11. Mizpah. There were two places of this 
name, one in Benjamin, the other (meant here) in 


Gilead. 


Verse 24. The idea here is that each god has authority 
in his own land. Beyond that land his power does 
not go. A primitive idea. 





128 How to Teach the Old Testament 


Verse 29. Part ofthe tribe of Manasseh was settled east 
of Jordan, and part in the centre of Palestine along 
with Ephraim. Hence Ephraim’s anger (12'). 


Verse 30. “In hope of victory, or dread of disaster, 
men vowed, or* devoted, to Jehovah something 
very precious—it might be a human life—believing 
they would thus propitiate His favour and secure 
His aid’? (Peake). 

Verse 31. Did Jephthah mean a human sacrifice? If 
‘** whatever ”? should be ‘‘ whoever,’”’ as Peake and 
Glazebrook say, then he did mean it. But that is 
not at all certain. 


Chapter xii. 1. Contrast Gideon’s and Jephthah’s 
treatment of the arrogant Ephraimites. 


Verse 6. So in the “ Sicilian Vespers,” Aa.p. 1282, the 
French betrayed themselves when asked to pro- 
nounce cect and cicert. Those who said the C as 
an S were killed, because the Italian pronunciation 
1SM atc 

C. The Lesson 


1. Here is another story of the wild times when 
there was no fixed government in Israel. Every tribe 
was fighting for its existence, this time Manasseh beyond 
Jordan. The enemy was Ammon, a tribe that in- 
habited the south-west part of the country on the east 
of Jordan. 


2. The Hero of the Story, Jephthah. His birth. His 
harsh treatment at home. An outcast, he turns free- 
booter, like Ishmael, like David. The Robin Hood of 
old Israel gathered wild men about him like these others. 


3. The Deputation. Jephthah’s fame as a soldier 





Jephthah 129 


and leader turned his people’s thoughts to him when 
they were in danger. He was their only hope. Their 
request and his bargain. 


4. The Vow. Jephthah, a deeply religious man, 
though rough, went to the tribal sanctuary at Mizpah 
to ask God’s blessing. His vow, characteristic of the 
time. There was nothing wrong to them in such a vow. 
But the terms of it were foolish, just like what an 
impetuous man would promise. Did he mean a human 
sacrifice ? Probably not. 


5. The Campaign and Victory. 


6. His Return. His daughter came out to meet him 
to celebrate the victory, like Miriam (Exod. 152°), and 
the women who sang about David (1 Sam. 18°). The 
dilemma. He had promised rashly. What was he to 
do? He felt he had to keep his promise to God. A 
dreadful tragedy made more poignant by the beautiful 
spirit of the daughter. Compare the story of Iphigenia, 
and read Byron’s poem in Hebrew Melodies and Tenny- 
son’s My God, my land, my father (given in Glazebrook). 


7. Was he Right? If he vowed rashly, not meaning 
to sacrifice a human life, he was wrong, because to keep 
a vow that is itself wrong is to do evil. E.g. the story 
of Herod and the Baptist. If you promise to help any 
one in a bad action and then realize its badness it is 
worse to keep such a promise. But this only shows 
how careful we should be in making promises, because 
if we promise anything that is right we must keep the 
promise faithfully. 


130 How to Teach the Old Testament 


XXXII. SAMSON 
THE PLACE OF THE BODY 


JUDGES 13-16 
A.~ For the Teacher 


1. The feature of Samson’s exploits is that they were 
single-handed. He did not lead his tribe into battle ; 
he did everything himself. These stories must have 
been very popular, there is such an element of humour 
in many of them, and the kind of cleverness in turning 
the tables on his enemies which people love to hear 
about. His personal character, indeed, is so unworthy 
that it is difficult to believe that God could use such a 
man. But we have constantly to remember that these 
heroes were men of their age, and God uses very im- 
perfect instruments in every age. 


2. The Philistines were the last, and by far the most 
formidable, of the enemies who disputed the possession 
of Canaan with Israel. Fora long time it seemed doubt- 
ful which would be the victor, and it was not till the 
time of David that the issue was decided. The Philis- 
tines were invaders of the land like Israel. They came 
from Crete and were a powerful, warlike and highly civil- 
ized race, much superior in these respects to Israel. They 
settled in a rich plain, right on the great trade route, 
and derived much of their power from trade. The little 
tribe of Dan occupied a territory just next to the Philis- 
tine country and was therefore exposed to the incursions 
and oppression of this fierce enemy. 

3. The story of Samson is quite unsuitable for young 
children, but, taught with tact and in the right spirit, 
it may be used with profit for higher classes who 





Samson 131 





are at an age when sex has begun to make itself felt. 


4. The teacher should, of course, read Milton’s 
Samson Agonistes, which, though in some respects 
giving an erroneous impression of certain aspects of the 
story, has a vivid rendering of the tale as a whole. 


B. Notes 


Chapter xii. 2. Zorah: about 17 miles west of Jeru- 
salem. 
family of Danites: “family” and not tribe, 
because most of the Danites had migrated to the 
north, Only a skeleton of the tribe was left. 

Verse 5. Nazarite: one who lived under a vow to 
abstain from wine and from cutting the hair. 

Verse 12. Manoah asks two questions: (1) about the 
upbringing of the child, and (2) about his occu- 
pation. 

Verse 18. secret: R.V. “‘ wonderful,” i.e. Jehovah. 

Verse 19. arock: R.V. “the rock,” probably a rock 
altar (see the story of Gideon). 

Verse 24. Samson, from ‘‘ Shemesh ”’ the sun, i.e. the 
*“sunny one.” 

Verse 25. Spirit of the Lord. All great exploits were 
| regarded as due to the Divine Spirit. 

Chapter xiv. 1. Timnath: 4 miles south-west of Zorah, 
bordering on the Philistine country. 

Verse 4. he sought. ‘“‘He” is Jehovah. 

Verses 5, 6. a young lion. ‘‘ The Syrian lion is not 
nearly such a formidable beast as the African. 
Pausanias tells how a Greek athlete called Poly- 
damas killed a lion with his bare hands on Mount 
Olympus ” (Glazebrook). (See exploits of Benaiah 





132 How to Teach the Old Testament 


and David, 1 Sam. 17°43; 2 Sam. 2329; also 
Hercules and the Nemean lion.) 


Verse 12. Linen garments: i.e. loose cloaks which 
served as blankets by night. 


Verse 20. companion: the ‘‘ best man.” 
Chapter xv. 8. Hiam: afew miles south-east of Zorah. 


Verse 15. new jawbone: literally moist, i.e. not dried 
up and therefore a better weapon. 


Verse 19. in the jaw: rather “in Lehi” (which means 
‘* jawbone ”’). 


Chapter xvi.1. Gaza: a frontier city of the Philistines. 
It gave great trouble to our troops in the Great 
War. 


Verse 8. The distance from Gaza is 40 miles! 


Verse 4. valley of Sorek: ‘“‘runs down from near 
Jerusalem to the Philistine plain ” (Glazebrook). 


Verse 5. pteces of silver: shekels, 2s. 6d. each. Each 
of the lords was to give her about £150. 


Verse 7. green withs: i.e. new bowstrings of gut, 
strongest when new. 


Verse 23. Dagon: a Semitic god of agriculture who 
had temples in Canaan before the Philistines came 
there. The old idea, widely current owing to 
Milton, that he was a fish god, is wrong. The 
Philistines adopted the native worship. 


Verse 25. make us sport: i.e. by exhibiting feats of 
strength. 
between the pillars. The temple had a wide porch 
with a roof supported on two pillars. The pillars 
were of wood and only kept in place by pressure, 
so that a powerful pull might remove them. 





Samson 133 


C. The Lesson 


1. The Israelites had their popular hero as the Greeks 
had Hercules, and the English Hereward the Wake, 
both very like Samson. Such a character is strong 
and brave and witty, but often very imperfect. 


2. Samson’s Dedication. (What God meant by His 
instructions to the parents. Samson was to be brought 
up simply and severely to be a powerful weapon in 
God’s hands.) Samson’s fitness for his task, his strength 
and his courage. His exploits—the lion, the gates, the 
foxes. His weakness: how often one weak spot in a 
character is like the heel of Achilles, his only vulner- 
able point. In Samson’s case it was his sensual passion. 
The women who led him astray and ultimately proved 
his ruin. This weakness neutralized all his strength 
and threw him, a mere wreck, on the shore like a battered 
ship ina storm. The tragedy of this. 


3. How could God use such a man? God has to use 
what instruments are available. God’s instruments 
are always imperfect. But it has to be remembered 
that all God can do and does in this world He does 
through us. He does nothing without our help. We 
are necessary to Him. And what makes us really a 
help to God is our obedience to His will. Sin, and 
especially sins like Samson’s, spoil a life and ruin its 
happiness and above all prevent God using it for His 
great ends. 


4, The place of the body and its desires. Yielding to 
bodily desires was Samson’s ruin. But are the impulses 
of the body wrong? No, they are good, beautiful, 
sacred, and of God’s ordinance. But they have to be kept 


134 How to Teach the Old Testament 








in their place. The body is a good servant but a bad 
master. And the way to meet and overcome tempta- 
tions to sensual sin is simply to live in an atmosphere 
where sin dies out of itself. ‘‘ Live on the top storey,”’ 
says Professor Drummond. 


».O.O. 4 TEMA ER hs | 
LOYALTY 
Ruts 1-4 


A. For the Teacher 


1. For all the wildness and turbulence of the period 
of the Judges there was another side to the life of the 
people, and we have it here in the record of a simple, 
kindly, humane life. Most modern critics date the 
writing of the book after the Exile. But it is more 
likely that it was written as a companion picture to 
Judges. A writer after the exile would not have written 
so genially of mixed marriages. It is a book “ sacred 
to the lowly and the poor,” the heroine finding her 
happiness in duty and in the service of a beautiful 
home love. It is a pastoral symphony after the martial 
music of Judges. It is certainly a lovely idyll, handed 
down with consummate grace and tenderness. 


2. The motive of the writer was to show how an 
alien woman embraced the true religion and became 
an ancestress of David. But as teachers we are much 
more interested in the constancy and simplicity of 
Ruth, and that is the master motive of the lesson. 


3. Famine, which drove Elimelech to Moab, was a 
frequent experience in Canaan. It drove Abraham to 


Ruth 135 
Kgypt and Jacob’s sons to the same quarter. This 
famine was due to the failure of rain, on which all the 
fertility of Canaan depended. Moab was not far away. 
Its mountains were a frowning rampart on the other 
side of the Dead Sea. Lot fled to them after the 
destruction of Sodom. Its God was Chemosh, but 
Elimelech and Naomi seem to have been able to pre- 
serve their own faith in an alien land. 


4. There are several interesting customs illustrated 
by this story. (1) The young woman on her marriage 
was absorbed by her husband’s clan. Hence the pre- 
sence of the two girls with Naomi. It was the opposite 
of the western custom, ‘A son is a son till he gets a 
wife, but a daughter’s a daughter all her life.’’ (2) 
The function of the “‘near kinsman’’ was very im- 
portant in Hebrew family life. If a man sold himself 
or his property it was the “ Goel’s”’ duty to redeem 
him or it ; if he was killed the Goel was the avenger of 
blood ; if he died without personal issue, the part of the 
Goel was to prevent the patrimony passing to strangers 
(Peake). (8) Spreading the skirt over a maiden was 
symbolic. It meant that the Goel was ready to do his 
part by wedding and protecting one who would other- 
wise be friendless, and so prevent the inheritance being 
alienated. 


B. Notes 


Chapter i. 2. Ephrath: a district round Bethlehem. 

Verse 20. Naomi: ‘‘ my sweet one.’”? Marah = bitter. 

Verse 22. The beginning of barley harvest was in 
April. 

Chapter ii. 2. It was a law in Israel, following an old 





136 How to Teach the Old Testament 


custom, that the poor, the orphan, the stranger, 
and the widow should be allowed to glean in the 
harvest fields. 

Verses 8-9. The young men reaped while the maidens 
collected the sheaves. 


Verse 17. ephah: nearly a bushel. 


Chapter ili. 4. ‘* The peasants of Palestine still sleep 
in the open air at the threshing time ” (Peake). 

Chapter iv. 5. Rather “‘ Thou must buy Ruth also”: 
a remnant of an old custom when wives were 
purchased. 


C. The Lesson 


1. Point of Contact. We have been reading tales of 
blood and slaughter and cruelty. But here is a glimpse 
of the home life which was going on all the time. Another 
way of introducing the lesson would be the following. 
What is the best thing in a friend? Various answers. 
But the best is loyalty. What is loyalty? Well, 
here is a story that tells that. 


2. The steps or mental pictures in the story: (1) In 
Moab (17°). (2) The Parting of the Ways (11°). (8) 
The gleaning (2). (4) Ruth and Boaz (8). (5) The 
Kinsman (67). (6) The Wedding (6°). 

3. This is loyalty, the finest thing in friendship, the 
way Ruth behaved to Naomi. It means faithfulness, 
1.e, standing by your friend in adversity as in prosperity. 
And it means endurance, i.e. never letting go, never 
tiring in your friendship. 

4. How you can show loyalty to a friend. Take the 
story of Orestes and Pylades, or David and Jonathan. 
Or take the beautiful scene from Guy Mannering, where 


Ruth 137 


Dominie Sampson declares his undying loyalty to Lucy 
Bertram. Read it, or read the lovely little poem by 
Tennyson beginning “ Love flew in at the window.” 
Or you may show loyalty to a Cause. Look at the 
way men gathered to the nation’s defence in the Great 
War. Look at the Covenanters. Look at the Jaco- 
bites. Or, above all, you may show loyalty in religion, 
to Christ. Contrast the denial of Peter with the devo- 
tion of Paul. Contrast the rich young ruler with the 
martyrs, Latimer, or the young woman, Margaret 
Wilson, who perished inthe Solway. But this loyalty is 
as much needed at the present day and in our life. How? 


XXXII THE CALL OF SAMUEL 
HOW GOD SPEAKS TO US 


1 SAMUEL 1-3 


A. For the Teacher 


1. The Situation. We are again at the beginning 
of anewera. After the rough and undisciplined period 
of the Judges we are hardly prepared for the situation 
which we find at the birth of Samuel. There are in 
existence both a central worship, with a “temple” 
at Shiloh, and a central government. Either Deborah’s 
effort to secure a national unity was more successful 
than we imagined, or the menace from the Philistines 
had drawn the people together to seek God and to join 
in a common effort. This may account for the position*® 
of authority which we suddenly find Eli exerting and 
for the influence of the sanctuary at Shiloh. 


2. Shiloh lies on the north of Bethel. It was a 


188 How to Teach the Old Testament 


sanctuary from a very early period. It lost much of 
its sanctity after the Ark was taken. The temple at 
Shiloh was a solid building of wood, with probably one 
large room for the Ark (used also as a sleeping-place 
for the priests), and an outer court for the worshippers. 
In front of the temple was a seat for Eli where he offi- 
ciated as judge in disputes and delivered guidance for 
the people’s conduct. 


3. Samuel was one of the greatest men in sacred 
history. He combined in his person three functions : 
he was a priest, a prophet, and a judge. He was the 
last of the judges and the first of the prophets. His 
greatness lies in his recognition of the necessity of the 
monarchy for the sake of national unity and deliver- 
ance from the enemy ; and in his readiness to give up 
first place and set the king above himself. Only the 
greatest men are capable of this self-abnegation. But 
his greatness lies also in this—that he was the father 
of Prophecy in Israel. Hitherto there had been here 
and there a prophet, but now prophecy became a 
national institution and a great national force, and this 
was due to Samuel. 


4. The Song of Hannah is declared by critics to be 
a late composition. It implies the existence of the 
monarchy (1°), and is placed here because of its reference 
to the barren woman (5). It is the obvious model of the 
Magnificat. 


5. The books of Samuel and Kings are of the highest 
historical value. Much of their material is a contem- 
porary record. As Professor Edward Meyer says, ‘“‘ it 
is genuine history.’’ This does not mean that it is like 
modern scientific history, but simply that the record is 





The Call of Samuel 139 


near the events it narrates and may be relied on as a 
true picture of the time. 


6. The story in chapter 3 may be taught either as the 
call of Samuel to his great mission or, more simply and 
for younger children, as an example of how God speaks 
to us. If the teacher chooses the former he is referred 
to the lessons on the calls of Abraham, Moses and Gideon 
for guidance. The second of these two lessons is the one 
chosen here. 


B. Notes 


Chapter i. 1. Ramathaim-zophim: rather “ of Ramah, 
a Zuphite.”” Ramah was Samuel’s home and was 
only 2 miles from Shiloh. 


Verse 2. Hannah: Grace. Peninnah: Pearl. 


Verse 3. At the great feast of ingathering or “‘ Taber- 
nacles.”” It was a sort of “ Christmas from home.”’ 
The meal partaken at the time was shared by the 
worshippers with the priest. Part of the animal 
was burned, part given to the priest, and the rest 
consumed by the people. 


Verse 4. portions: i.e. of the animal sacrificed. 


Verse 13. A terrible revelation of what happened at 
the sanctuary. 

Verse 16. a daughter of Belial: i.e. a worthless woman. 
The derivation is uncertain. 

Verse 20. Critics say this is not the real meaning of 
** Samuel,” but at any rate this meaning embodies 
the aspiration of Hannah. 

Verse 23. until she weaned him: i.e. until he was at 
least three years old. 


Verse 24. ephah: a bushel. bottle: a wine-skin. 





140 How to Teach the Old Testament 


Chapter ii. 12-17. ‘‘ Burning the fat was an essential 
part of the sacrifice; so that to cut off some of 
the flesh before this rite had been performed was 
gross irreverence and spoilt the whole act of 
worship ”’ (Peake). 

Verse 25. God shall judge him: rather “ arbitrate ” 
between disputants. 


Chapter ili. 1. precious: rare. Open: frequent. 
Verse 8. the lamp. Enough oil was supplied in the 


lamp to last till morning, so that the phrase here 
means it was not yet morning. 


C. The Lesson 


1. Now we come to a time when things were not so 
eonfused and wild as in the time of the Judges. They 
were more settled. People were drawing together and 
drawing to God. Yet a great deal still that was wrong. 
Need of a leader who would teach the people and bring 
unity and deliverance. And so Samuel was sent. 


2. His Birth. Wannah’s vow. In Scotland parents 
often used to dedicate a son to the ministry. The 
father of the great Scottish missionary, Dr. Laws, was 
a young carpenter who was led to God in a remarkable 
way. He vowed that if ever he had a son he would 
dedicate him to the work of a missionary. He kept his 
vow, and the career of Dr. Laws was the result. 


3. His Great Experience in the Sanctuary at Shiloh. 
Note the steps, so clearly indicated by the successive 
utterances of the Divine voice. Close the “‘ presenta- 
tion ’ of the incident by saying that God gave Samuel 
a message for Eli,a very sad message. And this was the 
first of many messages God gave to Samuel as a prophet. 





The Call of Samuel 141 
4. How often God has spoken to men, in the Bible 
story and outside. Moses, Abraham, St. Paul are 
examples in Scripture. Outside are Luther (when he 
was toiling up the “* Holy Stairs ’’ in Rome a voice said 
in his heart, ‘* The just shall live by faith,’ and he at 
once rose up and walked out of the building, a free 
man !); Augustine (at a crisis in his life, when he was 
seeking God, he was in his garden and heard a voice 
saying “‘ Tolle, lege,’ i.e. “Take up and read.” Hetook 
up his Bible and the first verse he read brought the light 
to his soul); and Joan of Arc (when she was a little girl 
she often heard God’s voice speaking to her. Once it 
said, ‘‘ Be good, little Joan, and God will help you.” 
Another time, ‘‘ Be kind, little Joan, and God will make 
youa blessing to many.’ And again, “ Be brave, little 
Joan, and God will make thee saviour of thy country ’’). 


5. Has He stopped speaking to people? No, He speaks 
to us to-day. How? In the Bible, in conscience, in 
Providence, in church, and in our hearts by His Spirit. 
Examples will readily be given by the children. 


XXXIV. THE ARK 
SUPERSTITION 


1 SAMUEL 4-7? 


A. For the Teacher 
1. The Ark. This was an oblong box of acacia wood, 
which was regarded as the Shrine of Jehovah. His 
presence was closely associated with it. We may say 
that He was believed to dwell in it (Num. 10> 3°), It 
was “the most ancient and most sacred of the religious 


142 How to Teach the Old Testament 


symbols of the Hebrew Nation ’”’ (Hastings, B.D.). It 
was carried at the head of the people on the march, 
and was borne like a flag into battle by the priests 
(Josh. 6). In the wilderness it was placed in the “‘ tent 
of meeting,”’ and later its home was in Shiloh for a time. 
Its contents cannot be ascertained with certainty. In 
any case the main idea at this time connected with it 
was the presence and even indwelling of Jehovah through 
this symbol. The people regarded it as a talisman. 


2. Several of the incidents in these chapters furnish 
illustrations of the necessity of distinguishing between 
facts and the interpretation of facts. This is the key 
to many O.T. “ difficulties.”” The plague at Bethshe- 
mesh, e.g., was a fact. The attribution of this slaughter 
to Jehovah’s anger is the writer’s interpretation. The 
plague spread from the Philistines to the people of 
Bethshemesh, perhaps through the cows, perhaps by 
rats or mice. This event and the consequent mortality 
would naturally be attributed to Jehovah by the ancient 
writer. We may accept the fact without the interpre- 
tation, since we know the interpretation was due to the 
writer’s imperfect knowledge of God’s character. The 
same remark applies to the plague among the Philistines. 


B. Notes 


Chapter iv. 1. Aphek: “on the border between the 
plain of Sharon and the hill country of Ephraim,” 
not identified (Glazebrook). 


Verse 4. cherubims. Very little is known of these 
figures, even of their shape and appearance. They 
were associated closely with Jehovah as guardians 
of sacred places, as attendants, as it were, upon 
Him. 


The Ark 143 


Verse 13. by the wayside: rather “ by the Gate (of 
the Temple) watching the way.” 

Chapter v. 2. Dagon: the name of the native God of 
agriculture, a Canaanite deity adopted by the 
Philistines. 

Verse 5. A very common ancient superstition, shared 
by people as different as the Israelites and Romans. 

Verse 9. they had emerods: rather (R.V.) “ tumours 

roke out upon them,” symptoms of bubonic plague. 

Chapter vi. 3. itrespass offering: R.V. guilt offering, 
to make up for a wrong done. 

Verse 7. on which there hath come, ete.: ie. as the 
animals were untrained, they would be regarded as 
following Divine guidance. An extra test was the 
taking away their calves. If, against nature, they 
left their young it could only be by Divine 
prompting. 

Verse 9. Bethshemesh: a town on the border of the 
Philistine country. 

Verse 14. a great stone: probably a stone altar (see 
Judges 67°). 

Verse 19. looked into: more correctly ‘* looked at.” 

Chapter vii. 1. Kirjath-jearim: 9 miles west of 
Jerusalem. It was probably under Philistine 
authority, and therefore the Ark was not really in 
Israelite custody all this time, and was not removed. 
till David had conquered the Philistines. 


C. The Lesson 


1. Introduction. A brief description of the Ark and. 
its history up till now. Here is a story about it. 


2. The Adventures of the Ark. (1) The Israelites in. 


144 How to Teach the Old Testament 


their distress turn to the Ark for help. God is in it, 
and therefore if it is present they will have His help. 
They send for it and hail its coming with shouts of 
joy. (2) But the presence of the Ark does not save them 
from defeat. (8) The capture of the Ark and its stay 
in the Philistine country. Events at Ashdod, Gath, 
Ekron. The bubonic plague attributed, by the Philis- 
tines themselves, to the presence of the Ark with them. 
‘““Let us get rid of this dreadful object!” (4) The 
dreadful slaughter at Bethshemesh. This due to the 
spread of the plague and is by the writer wrongly attri- 
buted to God. (5) The ultimate arrival of the Ark at 
Kirjath-jearim. This was an Israelite city, but it was 
under Philistine authority, sothat the Ark was still lost 
to Israel. As a result religious life more and more 
decayed. The people had not even the symbol of God’s 
presence ! 


3. The outstanding truth in all these incidents is that 
the people put something else in place of God Himself. 
That is superstition. And superstition is a great 
enemy of religion, one of the greatest. Put anything 
in place of God and you put Him further away from 
you. This is clear, if we put, e.g., a priest in place of 
God, or an image (idolatry), or a friend. But it is 
equally true if we put the Bible or the Church or a 
doctrine or a-sacrament in place of God. The com- 
monest mistake about religion is that going to church 
or believing in the Bible, or having correct beliefs about 
Christ, is religion. But none of these things is religion, 
which is simply living with God and sharing all your 
life with Him. The story of the Ark shows us how 
serious may be the consequences if we imagine that to 
have correct views or to go regularly to church is to have 





The Ark 145 


God with us. These things are helps. God makes His 
presence known throughthem. But we must get beyond 
them to God Himself if we are to have His salvation. 


XXXV. THE FIRST KING 
PROMOTION 


1 SAMUEL 9-101° and 11 
Date 1025 zB.c. 


A. For the Teacher 


1. There is no part of the O.T. narrative in which the 
existence of different accounts is more apparent than 
this. The curious contradictions in the story are thus 
easily explained. There appear to be two accounts of 
the appointment of Saul as King, one in 9! 1916 (the 
earlier), the other in 8 and 1017-37, In the earlier Saul 
is chosen by Divine agency as the leader able to deliver 
the people from the Philistine yoke. His deliverance of 
Jabesh-Gilead proves his fitness, and thereafter the 
Divine choice is confirmed by the people’s verdict. In 
the later account the demand for a king is regarded as 
treason to Jehovah’s sovereignty, and all kinds of evils 
are predicted as a result of this step. As a matter of 
_ fact both pictures are true. The first is true because the 
monarchy had become a necessity if the people were 
to be united and its enemies defeated. What was needed 
was just what won the Great War, “‘ unity of command.” 
But at the same time, if the people had been loyal to 
Jehovah they would not have needed any such expedient. 
This ideal element is the truth in the second account. 


2. We are at the beginning of a new epoch in the 
10 


146 How to Teach the Old Testament 


election of the first king. Hebrew history has three 
great periods: (1) From Moses to the Monarchy (1200- 
1000 B.c.) ; (2) from Saul to the Exile (1000-586 B.c.) ; 
and (8) after the Exile. The second period was that 
of the Monarchy. It must be remembered that in 
Israel the theory of the Monarchy was that the king 
was the vicegerent of God. He was God’s representa- 
tive. Israel’s system was a theocracy. That is why 
the king was guided by prophets who bore God’s com- 
mands to him. Samuel appointed and deposed Saul. 
Nathan rebuked David. Elijah imposed obedience on 
Ahab. This point has to be remembered in a lesson on 
the first king. It is the central truth. 


3. The most important fact in the events of this period 
is the rise of Prophecy. Hitherto there had been a 
prophet here and there. Now prophecy becomes an 
institution. We find prophets in schools, living to- 
gether, trained for their career. They are revival 
preachers as well as political leaders. It is their work 
that accounts for the great revival of patriotism and 
religion which occurred now, and which led to the 
victory over the Philistines. The danger from the 
enemy drew the people together, and the preaching of 
the prophets made this unity a power because the people 
turned to God. From this time onward prophecy 
becomes the greatest power in Israel and the real instru- 
ment of Divine help. Samuel was the father of this 
new prophecy, and in this lies one of his titles to great- 
ness. That is why he stands with Moses as a second 
founder of the nation. 


4, 'The teacher should master Browning’s great poem, 
Saul, at this period in the history. 





The First King 147 


B. Notes 
Chapter ix. 1. a@ mighty man of valour: rather “‘ a man 
of wealth.”’ 
Verse 8. asses: the most valuable property of an 
Israelite. 


Verse 4. Shalisha and Shalim: unknown. 
Verse 5. Zuph: the district which contained Ramah. 


Verse 6. this city: i.e. Ramah. Samuel is apparently 
not known to Saul. 


Verse 8. fourth part of a shekel: about 9d. 


Verse 18. Ancient sacrifice was always a meal at which 
the worshippers ate part of the victim. 


Verse 19. {tell thee all, etc. : i.e. answer your questions. 
Possibly Saul was brooding on the condition of 
his people (Glazebrook). 


Verse 20. An offer of the throne. ‘‘ The honours of 
Israel, to whom do they belong? Are they not 
for you?” (Moffatt). 


Verse 25. The house-top was used as a sleeping-place 
as well as a drawing-room. Saul spent the night 
there. 


Chapter x. 2. The first of the three signs Saul was to 
receive. 


Verse 3. going up to God: i.e. to sacrifice at the 
High Place. The verse describes the material for 
the sacrifice. This is the second sign. 


Verse 5. The third sign: “‘ garrison”? is a scribe’s 
error for “‘ prefect’? or “resident,” a Philistine 
official in authority. 

Psaltery, a large harp; timbrel or tabret, a small 
drum; pipe, a sort of reed; harp, a lyre. 





148 How to Teach the Old Testament 


Verse 12. who is their father?: i.e. they owe their 
gift to the direct inspiration of God, not to heredity. 

Chapter xi. 1. Make a covenant with us: ‘“‘ make 
terms with us” (Moffatt). 


Verse 8. elders: ‘‘ sheiks ”? (Moffatt). 

Verse 5. Like Cincinnatus in Roman story. 

Verse 7. Likethe Fiery Cross in Scott’s Lady of the Lake. 

Verse 8. Bezek: north-east of Shechem, a good rally- 
ing-place. 

Verse 14. Gilgal: probably the Gilgal 18 miles north 
of Jerusalem. 


C. The Lesson 


1. The peril in which Israel stood from the Philis- 
tines. ‘This roused the people and was the occasion of 
the revival produced through the prophets. Compare 
England under the Danes and England in the Spanish 
peril in Elizabeth’s day. The leader of this revival 
was Samuel. He saw that a king was necessary in the 
circumstances if the people were to be led to victory. 


2. The King selected by God. How full of promise 
the young man was! Handsome, tall, modest and 
considerate (95), and both prompt and brave in action 
(11). Altogether a choice character and kingly. 

3. The Story of Sauls Appointment. (1) Search for 
the asses; (2) Samuel and Saul at Ramah; (3) Saul 
anointed ; (4) the three signs he received that he was 
God’s chosen ; (5) his first exploit (11); and (6) chosen 
by the people. 

4, The Meaning of the Kingship. Chosen not for 
honour to himself but as a servant of God’s purpose. 





The Furst King 149 
The honour and responsibility were an opportunity, a 
trust. The king was always to regard himself as God’s 
representative. 


5. So with all honour and all position. It is not for 
profit or pleasure or fame to us, but for service. 
Noblesse oblige. This is the meaning of promotion. 
It is opportunity. Itisacall. It is so witha minister, 
a teacher, a foreman, a judge, an M.P., everybody. 
There are two ways of thinking of life: as a means of 
getting for ourselves or as an opportunity of giving in 
service toGodandman. The latter is the Christian way. 


XXXVI. THE REJECTION OF SAUL 
THE PERIL OF DISOBEDIENCE 
1 SAMUEL 13-15 


A. For the Teacher 


1. The problem of Saul will only be solved by the 
teacher who understands that we are to judge both 
Samuel and Saul, and the incidents of their conflict, by 
the conditions of their own time and not by those of 
ours. Samuel represented the will of God. Through 
him Saul had been chosen and by him Saul was to be 
directed. And Saul came into direct conflict with this 
declared Divine will twice. The first occasion was at 
Gilgal (18). Our sympathies are with Saul, but we 
can see the traces of that self-will which made Saul 
impossible as a ruler. The second occasion was in 
connection with the war against Amalek (15). And 
again we feel that Saul represented the more humane 
conduct. But again we see Saul’s self-will. It was 





150 How to Teach the Old Testament 


not humanity that moved Saul. He had turned the 
sacred war into a predatory campaign and spared 
Agag to grace his triumph. Saul was giving way to 
vanity and ambition. In short he was renouncing the 
condition on which alone he had been made king, that 
he was to be God’s instrument. And the nation needed 
not only a brave soldier, which Saul was, but a moral 
and religious leader, which he was not. God cannot 
use a man who ceases to be true to God’s will. That 
is the general truth of the story, and we can see its 
soundness. 


2. The narrative reveals clearly the primitive state 
of religion and morality at this time. All the actors 
are led by omens through which the Divine will was 
supposed to be declared. The vow still had its sacred 
place in life. Samuel’s savage conduct towards Agag 
shows how far the age was still away from a humane 
morality (contrast this incident with Isaiah 53). But 
the story told in these chapters is thrilling in its vivid- 
ness and simple power. 


B. Notes 


Chapter xiii.2. Muichmash: 7 miles north of Jerusalem. 
Verse 8. garrison: rather “‘ prefect ’”’ or “‘ governor.” 
Verse 5. in Michmash: i.e. after driving Saul out. 
Verse 17. spoilers: ‘‘ raiders ’ (Moffatt). The raiding 
bands went in three directions—to Ophrah, which 


is north of Michmash; to Beth-Horon, which is 
north-west; and to Zeboim, which is south-east. 


Chapter xiv. 3. carrying an ephod. The ephod here is 
an image used in divination, not a garment. So at 
least some scholars think. 





The Rejection of Saul 151 


Verse 4. Between Michmash (where the Philistines 
were) and Geba (where Saul was) lies a ravine in 
which are two rocks jutting out, as the passage says. 

Verse 15. atrembling : i.e. a panic seized the Philistines 
(cf. Judges 7). The verse describes how the panic 
spread from one body to another. The panic 
was increased by an earthquake. 

Verse 19. withdraw thine hand. ‘‘ Take your hand 
off ’’ (Moffatt), i.e. the crisis was so acute that there 
was no time to wait for an oracle. 

Verse 25. there was honey, etc. What are called in 
Scotland ‘‘ Foggie Toddlers’? make and _ store 
their honey underground and in holes. 

Verse 32. eat with blood. All through their history 
this was a prohibition. But the blood could only 
be poured out by the side of an altar. Hence 
Saul’s action in creating one in the field. 

Verse 41. Give a perfect lot: R.V. “‘ Show the right.” 

Verse 43. And, lo, I must die: rather ‘“‘ Here I am. 
I am ready to die” (Moffatt). 

Chapter xv. 3. Amalek was to be “‘ devoted ” to God. 
All living creatures were to be killed and all property 
to be confiscated to God (see Josh. 6 and 7). 

Verse 5.. city of Amalek: i.e. a tribal headquarters. 

Verse 6. the Kenites (see Gen. 1518 and Judges 11%). 

Verse 11. wt grieved Samuel: rather “Samuel was 
wroth with Jehovah.” 

Verse 12. Carmel: not the well-known Carmel on the 
coast, but one south of Hebron. 
place: rather ‘‘ trophy,” i.e. of his victory. 

Verse 82. delicately: R.V. marg. “ cheerfully.” But 
Moffatt translates ‘“*‘ Agag came to him with totter- 
ing steps. ‘ Death is a bitter thing,’ said Agag.’’ 

Verse 33. before the Lord: i.e. at the sanctuary. 





152 How to Teach the Old Testament 


C. The Lesson 


1. Recall the brilliant promise of Saul’s beginnings, 
his good qualities, his courage and resource. Well, 
he was king and had a hard task set to him. Describe 
the condition of Israel, the oppression of the people, 
their unarmed state, their despair (see 18°? and °°). 
Here was a task for God’s servant ! 


2. How Saul Performed tt. This campaign against 
the Philistines was his great achievement. The in- 
cidents are: (1) Jonathan’s exploit (138%). (2) The 
gathering of the Philistines in force on the rumour 
that the “‘slaves had revolted.’”’ Their formidable 
power, their raids over the country (1317). (3) Jona- 
than’s brave deed (14‘ff.). (4) The remarkable sequel, 
the panic among the Philistines, the rapid growth of 
Saul’s army, his triumphant march (14). 


8. But there was something wrong about Saul all 
this time. His disobedience to God’s will declared 
through Samuel (it was God’s will to him). The two 
incidents (Gilgal and Amalek). Saul’s life like a day 
which begins in sunshine and clouds over in the after- 
noon. The cloud was his self-will, vanity and ambition. 
Saul forgot he was God’s servant. He forgot that 
promotion means service. And so God could not use him. 


4, How men throw away the opportunity of great 
service by some self-will or disloyalty, e.g. Wolsey 
(ambition), Macbeth (the same), Judas (greed), Esau 
(the flesh). 


5. Only by loyalty to conscience and duty can we 
get the guidance and blessing of God, and be used by 
God to do things. Read Tennyson’s great ode on the 





The Rejection of Saul 153 


death of the Duke of Wellington. There is a fine 
story told of the son of the famous Sir Henry Have- 
lock. Havelock told the boy once to wait for him at 
London Bridge one day. In the press of his engage- 
ments he forgot all about his promise. In the 
evening when he got home his wife asked him where 
the boy was, and her husband confessed he had for- 
gotten him. When Havelock got to London Bridge, 
there was Harry waiting for him! This boy afterwards 
became a notable soldier, won the Victoria Cross, and 
was held in high honour. This he owed to his habit of 
obedience to orders. 


6. Let the class commit to memory Samuel’s great 
words in which the lesson of Saul’s life is embodied 
(ieSam,) Lo *). 


XXXVII. DAVID 
FIGHTING GIANTS 


1 SaMuEL 16° and 17 
Date 1010 B.c. 


A. For the Teacher 


1. With David we reach the greatest period in the 
history of Israel. It was the Elizabethan period of 
Israel, when the territory and power of the nation 
were at their greatest. This was largely due to David, 
the greatest king and military leader Israel ever had. 
The story of his life is told with wonderful vividness 
and possesses undying interest for children. David did 
three things that entitle him to be called great: (1) 
He subdued all external enemies and unified the nation, 





154 How to Teach the Old Testament 


extending its boundaries north and south. (2) He 
stands at the fountain-head of sacred song in Israel. 
However many or few of our psalms he composed he 
was called “‘ the sweet singer of Israel,” and it is not 
unfitting that the Psalter should be called “ The 
Psalms of David,’ just as Proverbs is called the 
*“ Proverbs of Solomon,” though Solomon may have 
composed few of them. (8) And, finally, David so 
impressed himself on the thought and love of his people 
that he stood ever after as the type of the Messianic 
King, the ideal leader of God’s people. 


2. The story at this point has difficulties. The most 
obvious is that in chapter 17°°° David is introduced 
to Saul for the first time, whereas in the previous 
chapter (1621), David is already at the court and well 
known to Saul. There are other discrepancies, but 
these are all due to the fact that we have two narratives 
of different date of the same events. But, as Professor 
McFadyen remarks, “it is the business of the critic 
and the historian to ascertain the facts; it is the 
business of the teacher and preacher to discover the 
great religious ideas by which the story is inspired.” 
The passages given above tell a straightforward story 
with the real “ religious ideas ”’ in it. 

3. The scene of the encounter is the Shephelah, a 
series of low foot-hills running down from the plateau 
of Judea to the sea plain and cut at various points by 
** wadies,’’ i.e. valleys, which are the scene in winter of 
raging torrents, but in summer contain only a “‘ brook ” 
of water. On the one slope of one of these valleys the 
Philistines were posted, with the Israelites on the 
other. Goliath paraded up and down on the flat plain 
between the hills. 


David 155 


B. Notes 


Chapter xvii. 1. The site of the battle was quite near 
the Philistine border. 

Verse 4. Six cubits and a span: about 94 feet. The 
original inhabitants of the land seem to have been 
a race of great height. 

Verse 5. five thousand shekels: about 14 ewts., 
therefore six hundred shekels (*) are about 20 lbs. 

Verse 29. ‘“‘ What have I done now? I merely asked 
a question ” (Moffatt) gives good sense. 

Verse 34. lion. The Syrian lion was much smaller 
than the African. Samson also killed one. 

Verse 85. “I would be after him, I would strike him ”’ 
(Moffatt). It is the descriptive imperfect. 


Verse 40. scrip: a rare word for bag. 


Verse 52. Shaaraim: better “‘ the two gates,” i.e. the 
place where the roads to Ekron and Gath parted 
(Glazebrook). 


C. The Lesson 


1. Saul’s rejection meant that another king must be 
chosen. And God chose in his place one of the greatest 
men in the whole of the history of the Jews. Story of 
David’s anointing. 

2. David’s first great deed, the slaying of the giant. 
(1) The scene of the encounter (see under 4). (2) One 
feature of many ancient battles was the individual 
combats of the respective champions which often 
decided the issue. Cf. the fight between Bruce and 
the English knight at Bannockburn. (3) The descrip- 
tion of the champions. Goliath’s magnificent armour, 
his brazen helmet, his corselet of scales, his leg-greaves, 


156 How to Teach the Old Testament 


his javelin and spear and sword. David’s sling and 
stones. (4) Notice David rejected armour he could 
not wear. He went in his own fitness, not another’s. 
But he went in a fitness far greater, that of complete 
trust in God. He looked to God and exercised his 
own skill, a very fine example of ‘‘ Trust in God and 
keep your powder dry,”’ and of the way God uses the 
smallest we can offer. 


3. The lesson is very obvious here, but none the less 
necessary. The children will supply all the application 
needed. (1) We have all a far harder fight in life 
than even this battle with Goliath, and far bigger 
and stronger giants to conquer. (2) What are these— 
the really difficult things to fight? ‘Temper, e.g., In- 
temperance, Poverty. We are here to fight them. 
(3) How many times this fight has been fought success- 
fully. Wilberforce against slavery. Florence Night- 
ingale and disease in the Crimea. Lord Shaftesbury 
and the Children’s Charter. Carey and Heathenism. 
(4) The secrets of victory are here. ‘“ Trust in the 
liwing God”’ and the habit of victory in smaller things. 
David had practised often with his sling before he used 
it on Goliath. 


4, This is an incident children love to act. There 
may be four “scenes”: (1) David’ in the camp, 
Goliath parading about; (2) David’s interview with 
Saul; (8) The fight (with the actual words spoken) ; 
(4) The people shouting, “Saul has slain his thous- 
ands,”’ ete. 





Saul and David 157 


XXXVITI. SAUL AND DAVID 
JEALOUSY 


1 SAMUEL 161£ 23, 18516 19918 9024-34 


A. For the Teacher 


1. It is pretty clear that what we have at this point 
of the history is not a connected narrative but a col- 
lection of popular stories about David. It is better to 
treat the history this way in teaching, illustrating 
Saul’s jealous attitude to David, then David as an 
outlaw, and then his accession to the throne, where 
we get on to firmer ground. 


2. The “ evil spirit from the Lord” which troubled 
Saul is called by various writers ‘‘ a form of recurrent 
mania,’ a ‘“‘ nervous disorder,’’ and ‘*‘ madness.” It 
really began with “swelled head ’’ and jealousy ; and 
this horrid spirit, festering gradually with David’s 
success and popularity into something morbid, became 
a form of madness. It was certainly an “ evil spirit,” 
but we may doubt whether it was “‘from the Lord.” 
The Semitic mind attributed everything directly to 
God (“‘ Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath 
not done it? ’’ Amos 38°), and this spirit of jealousy is 
regarded as a judgment because of what it brought 
upon Saul. We speak and think differently of evil, 
not attributing it directly to God but to the will of the 
sinner. It is an instance of the imperfect stage at 
which the writer had arrived that he could think of 
God as the author of sin. 


3. There are plenty of illustrative instances of this 


158 How to Teach the Old Testament 


evil spirit (which was a poisonous ambition) in literature 
and story. The best of all is Longfellow’s King 
Robert of Sicily, which teaches exactly the lesson of 
Saul’s life. But the teacher must not only exhibit 
the vice. He must show the virtue which shames 
such a vice, i.e. magnanimity. Examples of this are 
John the Baptist (‘‘He must increase but I must 
decrease ’’), Abraham and Lot, and (a very beautiful 
instance) the treatment of Havelock by Outram when 
Havelock was prosecuting his great march to Lucknow. 
Sir James Outram was sent out to supersede him, but 
when he discovered what great things Havelock had 
done he refused to take away from his glory and 
insisted on serving under Havelock. 


B. Notes 


Chapter xvi. 16. cunning player. An interesting 
parallel is King Philip V of Spain, cured of melan- 
choly by the musician Farnielli (Glazebrook). 


Verse 21. armourbearer. The relation between Saul 
and David was that of a squire to a knight in medi- 
zeval times or a batman to his officer during the war. 

Chapter xviii. 28. a@ poor man, and therefore unable 
to pay the sum necessary for a wife, a remnant 
of the old custom of buying a wife. 

Chapter xix. 138. an image: R.V. ‘“‘teraphim.” This 
was the household god. Cf. Genesis 31% *°, 


Chapter xx. 24. the new moon: a festival held by all 
the Semitic peoples, of whom the Jews were a 
branch. It was a universal holiday. 

Verse 26. clean: i.e. ceremonially. 

Verse 34. did eat no meat, etc.: i.e. did not appear at 
his father’s court. 





Saul and David 159 


C. The Lesson 


1. Saul had been raised to power but he was not 
worthy to go on reigning because (1) he had forgotten 
God and (2) he had forgotten that he himself was only 
God’s instrument. In other words he thought only of 
himself. Now when a person who is taken up with his 
own interests and glory sees another person rising to 
popularity and being honoured above himself, what is 
the sin that rises in his heart? Jealousy. We are to 
see how this evil spirit grew in Saul’s heart till it made 
him insane. 


2. The successive events: (1) It began with the 
song of the women (18’). (2) It grew with David’s 
popularity (181°). (8) Saul appointed David to a 
military post so that he might not have to endure the 
sight of him (181%), (4) The marriage to Michal was 
a plot to have him killed (181° ff.). (5) Saul tried to 
get Jonathan to kill David. (6) Saul tried to kill 
David himself repeatedly, and David only escaped by 
‘the skin of his teeth ”’ (e.g. 19° ff.). 


3. This hateful sin, jealousy, is directly due to self- 
seeking. The selfish man cannot endure seeing any- 
one honoured or successful in place of himself, and this 
grudging spirit grows and grows till it becomes a poison 
and eats out all the good in a soul and destroys all his 
happiness. A terrible instance is the Roman Emperor 
Caracalla, who would not endure having his brother 
Geta to share his throne and stabbed him in his mother’s 
arms. So insane was his jealousy that he killed 20,000 
people who had supported Geta. Nothing will so easily 
make a person insane 


160 How to Teach the Old Testament 


4, But it is not enough to see the evil of this. It is 
far better to have a spirit that will not only make 
jealousy impossible but will give us a really noble 
character. That spirit is generosity. (Magnanimity 
is the right word, but it is difficult.) The best example 
of this is John the Baptist. Dwell on his splendid 
generosity as he saw his own disciples leaving him and 
going over to Jesus. Also Abraham giving up his 
right to choose the best territory and letting Lot choose. 
Also the noble conduct of Outram. How many oppor- 
tunities there are for this in school (in games and in 
competition for prizes). 

5. A striking parallel can be drawn between Saul and 


Shakespeare’s Macbeth, both in their insane ambition 
and in their tragic fate. 


XXXIX. JONATHAN AND DAVID 
FRIENDSHIP 


1 SAMUEL 147-18. 1 8 nee 19 ae 20 1-23, hea 23 14-18 ; 
2 SAMUEL 127-?? 


A. For the Teacher 


The relations of Jonathan and David follow naturally 
as a vivid contrast with those of Saul and David. 
Jonathan’s character is the opposite of Saul’s. David’s 
popularity and ability arouse in Jonathan only admir- 
ation and love, and he exhibits in his attitude to David 
that magnanimity which is the greatest quality in human 
life. The story of their friendship, the most famous 
of all such stories, has to be pieced together from 
scattered notices, but it gives the teacher a great oppor- 


Jonathan and David 161 


tunity of bringing out the value of friendship and the 
qualities of a true friend. The opportunity is especially 
valuable with a class of adolescents. 


B. There are no special difficulties in the narrative 
to be explained. 


C. The Lesson 


1. What is the greatest blessing in life? A true 
friend. Why? Because friendship means love, and 
love always means happiness. It also means trust, 
and a friend is one whom you can depend on always, 
not only when things go right but when they go wrong. 


2. Well, here is the story of the most famous friend- 
ship in the world, and you can see in it what a friend 
is, what it is to have a friend and to be a friend. (1) 
How it began (181). They ‘took to each other” at 
once. It was love at first sight. How beautifully that 
is expressed in the narrative. (2) Jonathan at once 
began to help David. He shielded him from Saul’s 
anger. He stood by David even to the danger of his 
own life. (3) He gave up everything he could to 
David, even his own chance of the throne. He never 
thought of himself at all. (4) The two friends made a 
*“covenant’”’ together. They agreed to stand by each 
other, to be true to each other always. (5) When 
David was being pursued by Saul and his life was in 
danger Jonathan visited him and “strengthened his 
hands in God.” A friend in need is a friend indeed. 
(6) When Jonathan was killed David was heart-broken. 
He paid a beautiful tribute to the character and love 
of his friend (2 Sam. 1). 


3. Jonathan was a worthy friend in two ways. One 
11 





162 How to Teach the Old Testament 


is because of his beautiful character. He is one of the 
noblest characters in the Bible—courageous, truthful, 
generous, great-hearted (cf. the character of Great- 
heart in Bunyan). What a boon and happiness for 
David to have such a friend! The other reason was 
his great love. Love is always generous. It always 
forgets itself. It is always extravagant and unselfish. 
Jonathan was heir to the throne, but he would rather 
see David king than be king himself. What a picture 
to look upon! We see the beauty of friendship chiefly 
in Jonathan because David had little opportunity of 
doing anything for Jonathan. Jonathan was the 
giver in the friendship and he gave with both hands. 


4, There are other examples of friendship that are 
famous: Damon and Pythias, Orestes and Pylades. 
But none so wonderful as this. Such friendships give 
something great to friends. One is influence. What 
is good in one friend becomes the possession of the 
other. They give themselves; they cannot help it. 
That is why a worthy friend is such a blessing, and why 
a bad friend is such a curse. Then another thing is 
happiness. There is no happiness like that of loving 
and being loved by some one. And finally there is 
help in need. For you can always rely on a friend 
when things are at their worst. 


5. Remember, however, that friendship is two- 
sided. If you are to have a friend you must be a friend. 
Friendship is not only a blessing. It is an opportunity, 
an opportunity for love to show what it is ready to do, 
an opportunity for unselfish service to another. 


6. Jonathan may be compared with Bunyan’s Great- 
heart. But Tennyson’s Sir Galahad is as good a 


Jonathan and David 163 
parallel. Perhaps still better is Shakespeare’s picture 
of Horatio in Hamlet, who was to Hamlet what Jonathan 
was to David and with many of Jonathan’s finest 
qualities. In Tom Brown’s Schooldays there is a good 
instance of the uplifting power of friendship in the 
influence of Arthur over Tom. 


XL. DAVID THE OUTLAW 
WAITING 
1 SAMUEL 21-27 


A. For the Teacher 


1. This section of the history consists of a series of 
romantic tales of David’s life in exile. One of the 
favourite stories was that in which David spares Saul’s 
life. We have it in two versions, in chapters 24 and 
26. David was an outlaw, and the best parallels to his 
life at this time are the stories of Robin Hood and 
William Wallace. The Scottish Covenanters furnish 
many similar experiences. The kind of broken men 
who joined him at Adullam were like the recruits who 
joined the Pretender on his invasion of England in the 
"45 (see Scott’s Waverley, ch. 57). David Livingstone 
tells a story about his great-grandfather feigning mad- 
ness like David, and successfully evading an unjust 
sentence in this way (Blaikie’s Life of Livingstone, p. 9). 
The extraordinary mixture of good and bad in David’s 
conduct at this time, his generosity, his savagery, his 
treachery, Canon Glazebrook points out, can be matched 
in many of the figures of the Middle Ages. Robin 
Hood could be as savage, and also as chivalrous, as 


164 How to Teach the Old Testament 


David. We must remember that David was a man of 
his time. 

2. The country of David’s wanderings was suitable 
for his purposes. The places mentioned are either in 
the fertile land round Hebron or in the rocky fast- 
nesses sloping from it down to the Dead Sea. This 
latter region gave him good shelter (Engedi is just to 
the west of the Dead Sea) and the fertile tract gave 
him support (Glazebrook). 


B. Notes 


Chapter xxi. 1. Nob: about a mile north-east of 
Jerusalem. 

Ahimelech : great-grandson of Eli. 

Verse 7. detained before the Lord, until he had been 
declared free of some ceremonial sin. 

Verse 9. ephod: clearly an image here. 

Verse 13. scrabbled: scrawled. 

Chapter xxii. 1. cave of Adullam: rather “ strong- 
hold.”? Adullam was north-west of Hebron and 
south-west of Bethlehem. 

Verse 3. Moab was a good refuge because it was at 
enmity with Israel. 

Chapter xxiii. 1. Ketlah: 3 miles south of Adullam. 

Verse 14. Ziph: between the hill country of Judah 
and the Dead Sea, south of Hebron. 

Verse 24. wilderness of Maon: part of *‘ the wilderness 
of Judah ”? which lies along the west of the Dead Sea. 

Chapter xxv. 18. bottles: skins. 
measure: a third of an ephah; an ephah contained 
84 gallons. 

Verse 81. grief... nor offence of heart; rather 
‘“‘ qualm of conscience nor ground of remorse.” 


David the Outlaw 165 


Chapter xxvi. 1. Hachilah: 6 miles east of Ziph. 


Verses 6, 7. A kind of laager. In an Arab encamp- 
ment the spear stuck in the ground marked the 
chief’s quarters. 

Zeruiah: the three sons of Zeruiah, Joab, Abishai 
and Asahel, were young men about David’s age 
(Glazebrook). 

Verse 19. There might be two reasons for Saul’s enmity: 
either Jehovah had stirred him up against David, 
in which case a propitiatory offering might appease 
Him; or evil-minded men might have done so. 
they have driven me out... saying, Go, serve 
other gods. At this time each land had its own 
god and you could only worship the god in his 
own land, so when Naaman wanted to worship 
Jehovah in his own country he had to take some 
of the soil of Israel and stand on it (2 Kings 5 1"), 
David shared this belief of his time. 


C. The Lesson 


1. An introduction for an English class would be a 
rapid narrative of Robin Hood’s career, for a Scottish 
class of that of William Wailace, or some of the exciting 
adventures of the Covenanters when hunted by Claver- 
house’s dragoons. 


2. Here in David’s life is an exact parallel to this. 
(1) With Achish at Gath. Feigning madness. Why ? 
Because in the East they regard a lunatic as possessed 
by God and therefore sacred. (2) Adullam, the refuge 
for all the disreputable and discontented. Here David 
gathered 400 men. (8) An exploit at Keilah. His 
force grown to 600. (4) In the wilderness of Ziph, 
where he was safer than in a walled town. (5) Then 


166 How to Teach the Old Testament 


in the wilderness of Maon. A narrow escape ! (23748), 
(6) At Engedi, among the precipitous cliffs and many 
caverns of the rock region west of the Dead Sea. Here 
occurred the incident of his sparing Saul (the latter 
story is in chapter 26). (7) The episode of Nabal 
(25). (8) Again with Achish, settled in a town of his 
own at Ziklag. David does not appear to advantage 
here (27), and is forced by the distrust of the Philistine 
lords to leave the army of Achish on the eve of the 
battle with Saul. 


3. There is one thing that is stamped on all this 
story. David knew how to wait. God had chosen 
him to be king, but this event seemed far off. David 
waited God’s time, and while he waited he learned two 
things which were to be very useful to him later. First, 
he learned to rule men. It must have been very 
difficult to keep the unruly mob at Adullam in order 
and to secure discipline. He learned to do that, and 
that was a good preparation for being king. And he 
learned also to be a soldier, and afterwards he became 
one of the greatest soldiers in Hebrew history. And 
so this time of waiting was not wasted. 


4, Now it is difficult to wait for what we want. We 
are apt to be discontented, especially if what we want 
is our due. And we are apt to waste the present oppor- 
tunity in bitterness and complaints and so learn nothing 
from it. The famous scholar, Dr. Dods, when he 
became a minister could find no congregation to elect 
him for seven years. But he used these seven years 
of waiting so faithfully that he made himself a sound 
scholar and this fitted him for a professor’s chair to 
which he was called. 


David’s Lament 167 


XLI. DAVID’S LAMENT 
THE GOOD IN MEN 
1 SAMUEL 28, 31, and 2 SAMUEL 1 


A. For the Teacher 


1. The object of this lesson is simply to make David’s 
famous dirge intelligible. The children should be 
taught to get it by heart. But to make learning by 
heart a profit and pleasure the memory work must be 
understood. The defect of memory work in schools is 
that it is often only learning by rote and not intelli- 
gently. Hence the history here is only the background 
of the poem. 


2. This dirge is the second oldest poem in the O.T. 
(Deborah’s Song is the oldest). It is, of course, poetry. 
Hebrew poetry has two characteristics. It has rhythm 
but no rhyme or metre. Rhythm is a musical flow of 
words with a recurrent stress or accent. It is also 
generally in couplets of which the second is either in 
antithesis to the first or a confirmation of it. An 
example of the first is Proverbs 1’, of the second 
Proverbs 18%. Both these characteristics are to be seen in 
this great poem. Notice too its simplicity and directness. 


3. The episode of the witch of Endor is important as 
showing that Saul was in a condition of utter despon- 
dency. Coleridge, in his Table Talk, holds that the 
whole thing was trickery, that the woman was a dis- 
honest “medium” and a_ ventriloquist. Note in 
favour of this that Saul did not see Samuel—only the 
woman did ; and that the ghost of Samuel only repeated 
a prediction which the real Samuel had already made. 


168 How to Teach the Old Testament 


B. Notes 


Chapter xxviii. 3. those that had familiar spirits. 
Moffatt translates ‘‘ mediums.”’ 


Verse 6. The three ways in which God revealed His 
will. Dreams were the earliest way. Urim (a 
species of lot) was used chiefly at this period. 
Prophecy was a later and more spiritual means. 


Verse 7. Endor: north of Shunem, 12 miles from 
Gilboa and behind the Philistine army. 


Chapter xxxi. 4. abuse me: rather “‘ mock me.” Saul 
was afraid of being treated like Samson. 
sore afraid. Glazebrook finds a close parallel to 
this scene in Antony and Cleopatra (iv. 12), where 
Eros kills himself rather than slay his master 
Antony. 


Verse 10. house of Ashtaroth: the great temple of 
Astarte (Venus) at Ashkelon. 


Verses 11-18. See chapter 9 for an account of what 
Saul had done for them. 


Verse 12. wall of Bethshan. The bodies of traitors 
were so exposed in early times in England. 


2 Samuel i. 2-16. Miss Stoddart (The Old Testament 
in Life and Interature) cites a remarkable parallel 
to this tale. A man who boasted to Cetewayo, the 
African chief, that he had killed Cetewayo’s rival 
and brother, expecting reward, was put to death 
instead. 


Verses 17 ff. The text is in parts not clear, but the 
beautiful language of our version may be left. 


Verse 21. nor fields of offerings. 'There is no sense in 
this. The meaning is “‘ may rain never visit you, 
ye fields of death.” 


David’s Lament 169 
shield not anointed with otl: a shield was oiled 
to make the enemy’s weapon slip. Here Saul’s 
shield is lying exposed to the weather, and “ not 
anointed with oil.” 


C. The Lesson 


1. We are come to the end of Saul’s tragic career. 
Sometimes a man is greater in his death than in his 
life. And we cannot help admiring the courage with 
which Saul faced the inevitable. 


2. (1) The two armies were posted one on the south of 
the valley of Jezreel, on the slopes of Mount Gilboa, 
and the other (Philistines) on the slopes north of the 
valley at Shunem. (2) We know nothing of the details 
of the battle. But we know Saul was utterly despon- 
dent. This despair probably spread to his soldiers, 
which explains their defeat. They had lost their 
““morale.”” A despondent army is already beaten. 
(3) This is shown in Saul’s visit to the witch of Endor, 
who was very likely a mere fraudulent “ medium.” 
Saul, however, was her dupe and was taken in. (4) 
The end is told in 1 Samuel 31 with simple and tragic 
directness. 


3. David’s beautiful dirge and the events. that 
occasioned it show one thing: how much good there is 
in men when it comes to a real crisis. Look first at 
Saul, the courageous soldier going down with a brave 
face. Look at Jonathan, loyal to the death to the 
father he thought mistaken. Look at David, generous 
to the man who had tried persistently to take his life. 


4, There is something here that helps us to believe 
in our fellowmen. We are apt to judge them hardly, 


170 How to Teach the Old Testament 


but when we get down beneath their faults we can 
find good. This was the way Jesus took with people, 
and because He believed in the good in men He found 
it, and brought it to the light. The truth about any- 
body is generally better than we would guess from 
what we see on the surface. And so we can repeat 
this dirge, believing its fine, generous tribute to be true 
to the facts. 


XLIT. THE TAKING OF JERUSALEM 
2 SAMUEL 5 and 6 


A. For the Teacher 


1. The two events narrated in this lesson are of great 
importance in the history of Israel. The first is the 
capture of Jerusalem. David, like a good soldier, had 
an eye for strategic points. The position of Jerusalem 
made it nearly impregnable. It is situated on a hill 
which is about 2,400 feet above the sea. The hill is 
divided into two plateaux with a valley between. The 
eastern part was “the city of David.’’ The capture 
was one of the great turning-points in the history of 
the nation. It gave the people a secure stronghold 
and a centre for their national life. Its history from 
this time, its place in the history of the world, show 
what a momentous step David took in securing it. 


2. The other event is equally important, the bring- 
ing of the Ark to Jerusalem. This was the beginning 
of the long spiritual history of Jerusalem. Solomon’s 
Temple was the necessary consequence of it. And 
then Nehemiah’s Temple, and then Herod’s. But the 


The Taking of Jerusalem 171 


immediate importance of this step lay in the fact that 
a religious centre was created for the people’s worship. 
Nothing contributed to the unifying of the nation like 
this, since religion was the main interest of this people. 
How influential this step of David’s was is seen from 
the action of Jeroboam when he separated from Judah. 
He saw that the separation could not last unless he 
could provide a new religious centre in the north. 
Hence the setting up of golden calves. From these 
two events we can see the greatness of David both as 
a ruler and as a statesman. 


3. The episode of Uzzah’s death is another instance 
of the imperfect ideas of God which still prevailed. 
Whatever the cause of his sudden death may have 
been (and a dozen reasonable explanations can be 
offered) we can hardly accept the writer’s interpretation 
of it as a judgment of God. Nor need we. He could 
not know it was an act of God. That was his view of 
it. This view was natural in his time. It is incredible 
to us simply because Christ has taught us what this 
ancient writer did not know about God. Revelation 
was given gradually as God’s people were able to receive 
it. We are looking here at an early stage of it. 


B. Notes 


Chapter v. 6. The text is not clear. Probably 
Moffatt’s translation represents the sense: ‘“‘ They 
told David, You will never get in here, blind men 
and cripples could drive you off!” 


Verse 7. Zion: the easterly branch of the hill on which 
Jerusalem was later built. 


Verse9. Millo: a fort or rampart of the stronghold. 





ily dt. How to Teach the Old Testament 


Verse 18. valley of Rephaim: west of Jerusalem. 
Chapter vi. 5. Moffatt gives the instruments used as 
lutes, lyres, drums, rattles, and cymbals. 


Verse 10. the Gittite: i.e. of Gath. He was probably 
a ‘‘ naturalized ”? Philistine. 

Verse 14. a@ linen ephod: a kind of kilt. 

Verse 16. she despised him. The reason was that in 
Eastern countries those who danced did so either 
as a spectacle or under great excitement. Michal 
thought David was ‘‘ making a fool of himself” in 
a way unworthy of a king. 

Verse 17. Note that at this time a layman could offer 
sacrifice. 

Verse 19. It was common for worshippers to partake 
of part of the animal they had offered in sacrifice. 


C. The Lesson 


This lesson is purely historical. Its aim is to explain 
the importance of the two events which gave David a 
secure stronghold and a religious capital. 


1. The events between Saul’s death and the taking 
of Jerusalem. David at once became King of Judah. 
But Abner for a time bolstered up a separate kingdom 
for Saul’s son. Its strength depended on Abner, how- 
ever, and at his death the sheiks of the northern tribes 
came to David to make an agreement with him. David 
then became king of all Israel. 


2. The first thing David did when he was thus estab- 
lished was to secure a stronghold which would be a 
basis of operations and a safe refuge. He saw that 
Jerusalem was just what he wanted and proceeded to 
attack it. The Jebusites who held it were so sure of 





The Taking of Jerusalem 173 


its strength that they taunted David and said the blind 
and the lame would keep him out. But strong as it 
was it fell before David’s assault. This was one of the 
most important events in the whole history of Israel 
because it gave Israel a central rallying-point and a 
nearly impregnable fortress. Jerusalem is one of the 
great cities of the world, and its long and glorious history 
began when David captured it. 


3. But one thing had to be done to give the new 
capital its proper place in the national life. It must 
have the Ark of God in it, for the people believed this 
Ark to be the sign and assurance of God’s presence. 
The Ark had been for long at Kirjath-jearim and 
David resolved to bring it to his city, which would then 
be the centre of the people’s religious as well as of their 
civil life. But a tragic incident prevented him from 
effecting his purpose for a time. Story of Uzzah. 
Uzzah’s death was naturally, but wrongly, attributed 
to a judgment of God. And so the Ark was left in the 
house of a man called Obed-Edom, until it became 
clear that all danger was over from handling it. Then 
with great solemnity and rejoicing it was brought to 
Jerusalem. This was the beginning of the story of 
Jerusalem as a holy city. Here was the Ark, here 
the Temple was built, and here the worship of the 
people was more and more centred. And thus the 
love and devotion of the people more and more were 
directed to this city which was the symbol of all they 
held great and dear. 





174 How to Teach the Old Testament 


XLUI. ABSALOM’S REBELLION 
TREACHERY 
2 SAMUEL 15-18 


A.~ For the Teacher 


1. Note the extraordinary vividness of this narrative. 
The characters are presented so that you see them 
acting and even thinking. Ittai, Ahitophel, Hushai, 
Joab, the young messengers, the competing runners; 
above all, David and Absalom. The unfavourable 
picture of David here shows, if that were needed, how 
early the narrative is. Later, no one would have dared 
to depict the national hero like this. His conduct 
awakens ‘‘ a mixture of pity and contempt.”’ Absalom 
is as frankly shown, the spoilt boy developing into the 
weak, selfish, and unscrupulous man. It is one of the 
most wonderful stories in the Bible. But then we 
say that about so many Bible stories ! 


2. The chief feature of the narrative is the contrast 
between faithfulness and treachery. The faithful are 
Joab, fierce, cruel but forthright and intensely loyal to 
David ; Ittai, the mercenary who would not desert 
his master; Hushai, the wise counsellor, and many 
others. The treacherous are Absalom, Ahitophel, Ziba. 
The crisis brought out the real men as it always does. 


3. One point is interesting, David’s attitude to the 
Ark. He would not take it with him, and for a remark- 
able reason. If God was for him He would save him 
without the Ark; if not, the Ark would make no 
difference. This is a very significant incident. It 
shows that David had reached a more spiritual under- 





Absalom’s Rebellion Poe TS 


standing than his people. It was one of those religious — 
landmarks which show how, under God’s teaching, 
Israel was growing in spiritual knowledge and insight. 


B. Notes 


Chapter xv. 1. A mark of royalty. 

Verse 6. stole the hearts of the people : cf. Richard IT, i. 4. 

Verse 10. spies: rather, messengers. 

Verse 12. Giloh: a village 6 miles north-west of Hebron. 
sacrifices: a necessary part of the coronation. | 

Verse 14. servants: officers of the court. 

Verse 18. all the Gittites: rather, ‘‘ the men of Ittai 
the Gittite.” 

Verse 25. Carry back the ark. (See under A.) This 
is the end of the wanderings of the Ark. It was 
never again carried into battle. 

Verse 28. inthe plain of the wilderness : R.V. has ‘“‘ at the 
fords of the ,wilderness,”’ i.e. the fords across Jordan. 

Chapter xvi. 8. IfShimei refers to the dreadful incident 
in chapter 21, that chapter would seem to be out 
of its place. 

Verse 15. ‘* Men of Israel’ in the story obi refers 
to Absalom’s followers. 

Chapter xvii. 17. Enrogel: near Jerusalem. 

Verse 20. water: the Jordan. 

Verse 24. Mahanaim: on the east of the Jordan just 
north of the Jabbok. 

Chapter xviii. 6. the wood of Ephraim: R.V. has 
‘* forest,”? but it is not a forest in the ordinary 
sense. It was a broken, rocky country, and many 
died in this inhospitable waste where they were 
lost (see verse 8). 





176 How to Teach the Old Testament 


Verse 17. a very great heap of stones. ‘‘ This way of 
insulting a dead foe is still practised in the East. 
Achan was treated in this way and the king of Ai 
(Josh. 87%)? (Glazebrook). 

Verse 21. Cushi: R.V. “ the cushite,” i.e. an Ethiopian, 
probably a negro slave. 

Verse 23. by the way of the plain: i.e. of Jordan, and 
so an easier, though longer, way than through the 
‘“* forest’? of Ephraim. 

Chapter xix. 5. thou hast shamed. Joab’s rough 
words were wise, as David’s grief was disheartening 
to his supporters. But David cherished a bitter 
memory of these words. 

Verse 8. sat in the gate: the of an Eastern 
city was like the Greek “ agora’? and the Roman 
Forum. It wasa large space where business was done 
and where the public life of the city was conducted. 


C. The Lesson 


1. When David was settled down and victorious 
over his external enemies the one great danger was 
treachery from within. And the danger was greatest 
if the treachery came from one who was completely 
trusted, and greatest of all if it came from within his 
own family. We see David passing through such an 
experience from the conduct of his own son Absalom. 


2. Absalom had been treated by David with con- 
sistent kindness. Indeed he had been spoilt. And 
a spoilt or ‘‘ coddled ”’ child generally turns out badly. 
We are made strong by discipline, by difficulties, by 
hardness. We are made weak and selfish and cruel by 
getting everything made easy for us. And Absalom 
had in this way been made into a weak, selfish and 


6 33 


* gate 


93 





Absalom’s Rebellion bru 
cruel man. He had killed his own half-brother and 
been forgiven the crime. David had treated him with 
generosity and kindness, and Absalom in return plotted 
to kill his father and seize his throne. 


3. The scenes in the story: (1) Absalom’s horrid 
hypocrisy and treachery. (2) David’s flight. The 
loyalty of Ittai. (3) Shimei and Ziba. (4) Hushai and 
Ahitophel. (5) Help from the sheiks beyond Jordan 
Piven )ia (6) the! “battle s°.) Absalom’s, death. 1. (7) 
David's grief. 

4. Absalom was that worst of all bad men, a traitor. 
His sin was not weakness or selfishness or cruelty only, 
but treachery. This has always been regarded as the 
worst of all wicked things. Dante in his great poem 
the Inferno puts the traitors at the very lowest depth 
of hell, furthest away from God. This sin is bad 
because it means betraying one who trusts you. That 
means ingratitude and it means untruthfulness. It is 
just rottenness in a life. The worst thing you can say 
of anyone is that you cannot trust him. We find many 
parallels to Absalom’s act. The story of King Arthur 
and Mordred his son is one. Cassius and Cesar is 
another. The worst of allis Judas, the betrayer of Christ. 


5. On the other hand, you have here some splendid 
examples of loyalty. Ittai was a foreigner and served 
David for hire, yet in the time of David’s need, when 
things looked very black, he stood by David. So did 
Joab. In spite of his fierce, hard nature, he was loyal. 
What a splendid example of loyalty to God we find in 
Job! The Jacobites were splendidly loyal to their King. 
This is the greatest of virtues, loyalty to man or to God, 
to a master or a friend, to anyone who trusts us. 


12 





178 How to Teach the Old Testament 


XLIV. DAVID’S END 
THE SECRET OF GREAT LIVES 


1 Kines 2? 


A. For the Teacher 


1. The picture of David’s last days in 1 Kings is a 
dark one. We see the old monarch in his dotage, giving 
wicked counsel to Solomon to put to death David’s 
old and faithful follower, Joab, and also Shimei, whom 
he had promised to spare. And we see intrigues going 
on for possession of the throne, one of them being 
successful in making Solomon king. But we must not 
let all this blind us to the real greatness of David or 
the splendour of the reign that was coming to a close. 
And it is important for the pupil to realize, as he goes 
on reading the Old Testament story, what was actually 
happening, and how one era was passing into another, 
and what the significance of it all was. So we review 
David’s reign. 

2. David's Achievemenis. (1) The first of David’s 
achievements was his complete conquest of all the 
enemies of Israel. He subdued Edom and Moab and 
Ammon. But his greatest work was the subjugation 
of the Philistines, who were never afterwards a menace. 
But David not only defeated these enemies. He 
extended the territory of Israel in all directions from 
north to south and east to west, so that the kingdom of 
Israel was greater, more extensive, more powerful 
and wealthy than at any other part of its history. 
That was the special bequest he left to Solomon. (2) 
Notice the change that came over Israel with this new 


David's End 179 


power and wealth. At first she was a pastoral tribe, 
then after the settlement in Palestine she became an 
agricultural people with corresponding changes in her 
character and life. Now she began to be a commercial 
nation, trading far and near, and acquiring many new 
things and ideas, to which reference will be made later. 
(3) David gave to the kingdom a central stronghold 
for its civil and religious life and thus determined the 
whole future history of the nation and the world (see 
Lesson XLII). (4) With David we begin to see 
culture coming into the nation’s life. His name is 
definitely associated with the Psalter, and, however 
few or many of the psalms were written by him (and 
no one can tell the real truth of this), the tradition 
which makes David the source of the national poetry 
is persistent and ancient (1 Chron. 15'**, 16%’; 
Ezra 31°; Neh. 125°), and may well be true. Two 
facts confirm it. One is that he was a skilful musician, 
and ancient bards sang their own compositions. The 
other is the lament over Saul and Jonathan. David 
composed that lovely dirge, and he who composed that 
may well have composed any of our psalms. 


3. His Character. So much for what he did. What 
manner of man was he who did all this? In later ages 
his character was idealized, and he became the national 
hero, so much so that the Messiah was expected to be 
a Davidic personality. But this great place would 
never have been given to him in the national belief if 
he had not had something in him that was great. 
What? Well, notice the devotion of men to him. His 
followers risked their lives to get him a cup of cold 
water. Joab, for all his fierce temper, was David's 
loyal man. Ittai would not leave him though he was 


180 How to Teach the Old Testament 


a stranger. Jonathan gave up the throne for him. 
And so on. Then his chivalry: remember his conduct 
towards Saul ; and how he poured out the water which 
his followers risked life to get. Then his loving heart: 
we see this in his lament over Saul, in his relations 
with Jonathan, in the way he attached people to him, 
for those who love much have much love given to 
them. Apart from these characteristics there are 
David’s mental powers, which were much above those of 
others round him, and his military genius, and his 
power of command. And, most of all and above all, 
his deep and sincere piety. 

Along with these great virtues we must recognize 
David’s serious defects. He was on occasion cruel 
and violent. He deceived Achish shamefully when 
Achish generously trusted him. His sin against Uriah 
was vile even in an age of vile deeds. His dying 
counsels to Solomon were horrible, though we have to 
remember he was not himself. It is a fine testimony 
to the truth of the Bible that all this is ruthlessly 
exposed. And we have to keep in mind that a good 
deal of David’s wickedness was not wickedness at all 
to the men of his time. His lies and deceits were 
evidence of cleverness. And so we have to judge David 
by the standards of his own age and not those of ours. 


4, What then we see in David is a mixture of good 
and bad. The bad is largely due to his time. The 
good (and this is the great lesson of his life) is largely 
due to his religion. David’s religious faith was the 
deepest and truest thing in his life. He acknowledges 
God in everything. He attributes all his success to the 
Divine blessing. His dearest wish is to build a House 
for God’s worship. When he sinned his penitence 


David's End 181 


before God was deep and sincere. In all his difficulties 
his trust was in God (2 Sam. 671, 2414, ete., ete.). 


5. Now this is the secret of all great lives. Look at 
Abraham, Moses, Paul. What made them great, and 
enabled them to do their great work? Their faith in 
God. Look, outside the Bible, at men like Abraham 
Lincoln, who said he was often driven to his knees 
because all his own wisdom was not enough to guide 
him ; at Livingstone, whose devotion to God’s will in 
every detail converted Stanley to the Christian faith ; 
at Sir Walter Scott, who died with the words of the 
Bible on his lips ; at Pasteur, who died with one hand 
in his wife’s and the other holding a crucifix; at Earl 
Haig, who, at the darkest moment of the war, repeated 
the words, ‘‘ Not by might, nor by power, but by My 
Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts.’’ But these are only 
a few examples. 


6. Now what is true of these men is true for us all. 
It is by simple faith in God that we become strong and 
receive guidance, and are helped to do good and are 
used to do real service to others. ‘‘ Our sufficiency is 
of God.” 


XLV. SOLOMON 
A NEW ERA 

1 Kincs 4, 5, 7, 10 
Date 970 B.c. 


A. For the Teacher 


It is essential that the older pupils should grasp the 
nature of the new epoch that came with Solomon. 





182 How to Teach the Old Testament 


Great changes took place in the life of the people at 
this time, with far-reaching results. 


1. Solomon’s Great Dominion. The Kingdom he 
inherited from David Solomon preserved, extended, and 
organized. Two results of this greatness are clear. 
One is that Israel developed into a mercantile people. 
They were in contact with many other nations, their 
interests broadened out, they found new wants when 
they saw new goods. Israel’s territory lay on the great 
trade route between Egypt and the East, and Solomon 
took advantage of this to make his kingdom a sort of 
trade medium. But he did more. He built a navy 
which explored the Red Sea and brought back gold and 
all sorts of luxuries. “ Ivory, apes and peacocks ”’ are 
mentioned. All this meant a great change in the out- 
look of what had been a simple people. 


2. Another result was a great increase of wealth, 
and with this, of luxury and splendour. Solomon 
became an Oriental prince, with all kinds of magnifi- 
cence which are described in some measure in the chap- 
ters given above. He organized his kingdom into 
twelve divisions with officers over each, and each division 
furnished food (and probably money) for one month 
to the court. But this was not all. Solomon became a 
great builder. He built fortresses, and store cities, and 
a palace of great splendour for himself, and above all, 
the great Temple. He is said to have had a thousand 
wives. An Eastern monarch’s dignity and power were 
seen in the size of his harem. And you can see 
how far we have travelled even from David’s time by 
the size of Solomon’s harem (for Solomon’s magnificence 
read Song of Solomon 37" and Eccles. 2*%). Now all 





Solomon 183 


this was kept up by a system which included two bad 
things. One was the forced contributions referred to. 
This was opposed to the spirit of independence which 
had characterized the Hebrew people, and was sure to 
breed trouble. The other was much worse. Solomon 
employed foreed labour for his building. There can 
be no doubt that these two things sowed the seeds of 
trouble which broke out after Solomon’s death. But 
all this wealth and tyranny had other results. They 
turned a simple people into a people in whose life 
extremes of riches and poverty existed. And here we 
find the beginning of those social evils against which 
the prophets thundered later on. 


3. A much more agreeable result that followed the 
expansion of the nation was the beginning of a great 
intellectual movement. You will notice that a big 
commercial development is often associated with a big 
literary development. This was so in Elizabethan 
England. It was so also in the greatest age of Athens. 
It was so in Israel, Contact with other nations brought 
to Israel wider thoughts. And especially it so broadened 
out their outlook that there arose a way of looking at 
life and its problems which was not Jewish but human, 
not in a narrow but in a universal way. This was what 
gave rise to the literature in the Old Testament called 
the “‘ wisdom ”’ literature. The earliest form it took 
was that of Proverbs. These wise sayings have two 
characteristics. They are practical, and they are human. 
They think of life not as a Jew’s life but as a man’s. 
This literature was produced by a class of men called 
the ‘“‘ wise men,” who were really the philosophers of 
Israel. Just as we have preachers and scientists and 
philosophers, Israel had priests and prophets and “ wise 


184 How to Teach the Old Testament 

men.” This intellectual movement began in Solomon’s 
time as a result of the great commercial growth of 
the nation. Later, the ‘‘ wise men” tackled more 
difficult problems. And in Job and in some of the 
Psalms we find them discussing the problem of suffering 
and of the future life. It was a special line of intellectual 
development and it began in Solomon’s time. Solomon 
had been trained in the arts of peace, and his reign was 
one of peace and of literary culture. It is supposed 
that a good deal of the earlier history of Israel which we 
have in the Pentateuch and in the books of Samuel was 
composed at this period, at least the earlier narratives 
out of which the history was made. 


XLVI. SOLOMON’S CHOICE 
THE GREATEST GOOD 
1 Kincs 38 


A. For the Teacher 


1. The “ wisdom ’”’ which Solomon chose was really 
shrewdness, the faculty of perceiving the real values in 
life. It enabled a man to see, e.g., the folly of sin. It 
helped him to see life as it really is. As time went on 
it became something even greater, the power to see 
truth amid the perplexities of life, to know why men 
suffer, to discover that an explanation of many things 
that puzzle us here is to be found in another life. 
Hence Job and many psalms are among the “‘ wisdom ” 
literature. But in Solomon’s time wisdom was simply 
a shrewd perception of real values. 


2. The ‘‘ High Place ’’ where this incident took place 


Solomon’s Choice 185 
was Gibeon. A High Place was the flat top of some 
eminence where there was a sanctuary. Nearly all 
towns had one near at hand. There was an altar and 
a pillar, and the worship took place in the open. The 
worship consisted of prayer and sacrifice. These high 
places were the churches of the land, even after Solo- 
mon’s Temple was built. The Temple was, in relation 
to them, what a cathedralis to parish churches. By and 
by the purer worship was concentrated at the Temple, 
while the High Places retained much of the old coarseness 
and superstition. Hence the attempt; to abolish them 
which was in the end successful in the time of Josiah. 


3. In teaching that Solomon chose wisdom instead 
of wealth, avoid speaking in an unreal way about worldly 
possessions, as if they were not good or worth having. 
The children know that they are, and that the teacher 
values them (money, pleasure, etc.) like other people. 
The point of the incident is that to Solomon wisdom 
was first. 


B. Notes 


Chapter iii. 7. a@ little child: a figure of speech. 
Solomon would be over twenty at the time. 
Josephus makes him fourteen. 


Verse 9. an understanding heart to... discern: “a 
thoughtful mind for governing Thy people, that I 
may distinguish right and wrong ”’ (Moffatt). 

Verse 15. behold, it was a dream. The writer does not 
mean that it was all an illusion, but that the incident 
took place during a dream, which was a recognized 
way of Divine communication. 


Verse 18. no stranger, and therefore no witness to what 
took place. 





186 How to Teach the Old Testament 


C. The Lesson 


1. It is always fascinating to have a choice of things 
given to us ; so fascinating that we often imagine what 
we would choose if it were in our power. Look at 
children before a shop window ! 


2. Here is a lad who really had a great choice given 
him. He was beginning his reign. He was old enough 
to know that his job would be a very difficult one. He 
was young, and Israel was a great people and hard to 
manage. He had many enemies and a great responsi- 
bility. So, like a wise lad, he went to God at the church 
(the High Place) to pray. And there in his sleep God 
put the choice before him. And because he had been 
praying he saw clearly what he needed, viz. wisdom, 
ability to see clearly which way to take, which men to 
trust. He might have set his heart on wealth, or success 
in war, or long life. But not after praying to God. 
He needed ability to play his part and do his work 
faithfully and well. That is wisdom. When Queen 
Victoria was a little girl of twelve, her governess 
told her that she would one day be a queen. The 
girl was silent in thought for a few moments, and 
then, taking her governess’s hand, she said, “‘ I will be 
good.”’ This was the same choice as Solomon’s, but it 
was better kept. 


3. Now that decision is not given to Solomon only. 
It is given to us. We do have this choice. And it is 
between the high and the low, between material 
things like money, fame, position on the one hand, and 
wisdom on the other, i.e. ability to play our part man- 
fully and loyally. We all have to make this choice. 
Tell the story of the choice of Hercules, how in youth 


Solomon’s Choice 187 


two females met him (Virtue and Pleasure) and how he 
chose the former. The same story is told of Mohammed, 
who, standing on a hill above Damascus, turned from the 
enchanting view, saying, ‘‘ Man has but one Paradise, 
and mine is fixed elsewhere.’”’ Moses made the same 
choice when he cast in his lot with his people instead 
of being a prince (see Lesson XIII). But above all Jesus 
made this choice at His Temptation (St. Matt. 4). 


4. But this does not mean that we despise the good 
things of this world, like pleasure and money. These 
are God’s gifts and it is foolish to think them evil. The 
good choice does not mean rejecting these things. It 
means putting the best thing first and these things 
second. We all reveal what we are by the thing we 
put first in our choice. We ought to choose the best 
and make it first. God’s will, a good conscience, 
loyalty, truth, Christ—it may take any of these forms. 
And we may be sure that God will give to us what 
material possessions are good for us. We must make 
sure of the best and leave the rest to God. Remember 
then that you ought to make up your minds early, like 
Solomon, about this question: What am I going to 
make sure of as my chief object in life ? 


XLVII. THE TEMPLE 
WHERE GOD DWELLS 
1 Kines 5-8 


A. For the Teacher 


1. To form a true idea of the first Temple we must 
remember it was only part of a “ great architectural 





188 How to Teach the Old Testament 


scheme.’ Solomon built a palace, a hall of justice and 
a hall of pillars, as well as a Temple. The Temple, at 
least at first, was more a king’s chapel than a national 
sanctuary, though more and more it gathered to itself 
the spiritual regard of the people and in the end became 
the centre of their. national worship. 


2. The Temple took seven years to build, but it was 
not a large edifice. A small cathedral is four or five 
times the size. It was only some 90 feet long by 30 feet 
broad, exclusive of the porch. The reason for this is 
that an ancient temple was not so much a place for the 
gathering of people for worship (like a Christian Church) 
as a shrine or abode of the Deity. Only priests really 
entered the Temple proper. 


3. The Hebrews themselves had not the skill neces- 
sary for planning or erecting such a building, so they 
had to call in the aid of the more highly civilized Phceni- 
cians. The architect of the Temple was probably the 
Hiram or Huram of 71? ff., and the skilled artificers 
were Pheenicians. But the labour was provided by 
that forced levy from Israel and the Canaanites which 
created so much discontent (5**"*). To pay the foreign 
workmen Solomon sent a great quantity of wheat and 
oil from the corn lands of Northern Israel (57). The 
cedar-wood and fir-wood were sent by King Hiram on 
rafts to Joppa (2 Chron. 21°). The stone came from the 
hill country of Palestine. It was only because of the 
thousands of forced labourers that the great buildings 
of Solomon were made possible. 


4. The beautiful account of the Dedication Service 
in chapter 8 is pronounced by scholars to be much later 
than the event, in fact after the time of Josiah, and the 





The Temple 189 


glorious dedication prayer is regarded as a free com- 
position of this later age. There is a good deal in the 
prayer to support this conclusion, but in the main the 
prayer is true to the purpose for which the Temple was 
erected. If it was to be a royal chapel it would be for 
just such occasions as Solomon mentions that it would 
be used. So we may say that substantially it reflects 
the actual situation. | 


B. Notes 


Chapter v. 6. Sidonians: i.e. Phcenicians, whose 
chief cities were Tyre and Sidon. 

Verse 9. the place: Joppa (see 2 Chronicles 21°). 

Chapter vi. 2. A cubit is 18 inches. 

Verse 8. The teacher must realize the meaning of 
words used in the narrative. 
The “‘ house’? is the whole Temple, the ‘‘ temple” 
is the Holy Place or nave, the “ oracle’ is the 
Shrine or Holy of Holies. So “the temple of the 
house ” is the nave of the Temple. 

Verse 4. windows: i.e. at the top of the wall. The 
side chambers came within 15 feet of the roof. 
of fixed lattice work (R.V.): i.e. to admit light and 
air and keep out birds. 

Verse 8. right side: i.e. the south. The Hebrews 
faced the east when counting direction. 

Verse 23. cherubims : human figures with animal faces. 

Verse 31. doors are folding doors. 

Verse 34.“ The one door was composed of two folding 
leaves, and the other door, ete.’’ (Glazebrook). 
Verse 36. the inner court: the Temple court, i.e. the 

court in which the Temple stood. 


190 How to Teach the Old Testament 


Chapter vill. 1. elders of Israel: leading men of each 
tribe. 


Verse 2. Ethanim: i.e. Sept.—Oct. 


Verse 10. che cloud, which symbolized the presence of 
Jehovah (Exod. 33°), 

Verse 12. thick darkness. The Holy of Holies was 
quite dark. Baal-worshippers adored the sun. — 

Verse 22. stood: the attitude of prayer, but cf. verse °4, 

Verse 24. promisedst. 2 Samuel 717", 

Verses 31, 82. The ordeal by oath was common. The 
sinner would be compelled by fear of the result of 
false swearing to confess the truth. 

Verse 51. furnace of iron, so hot as to melt iron, an 
image for very severe suffering. 

Verse 64. peace offerings were the commonest. The 
fat was burned on the altar and the flesh eaten by 
the worshippers. In burnt offerings the whole 
victim was burnt. In meal offerings (of corn, etc.) 
part was burnt and the rest used for the feast 
(Glazebrook). 


Verse 65. Northern and southern boundaries. 


C. The Lesson 


1. Every child has seen a church, and many have 
seen a great church such as a cathedral. There are 
famous churches, such as St. Paul’s and Westminster 
Abbey and St. Peter’s at Rome and Notre Dame. But 
the greatest and most famous of all churches in history 
was the Temple of Solomon. We are going to see how 
it was built, what it was like, how it was set apart for 
use, and what its meaning and purpose were. 


2. How tt was Built. Look at a plan of its shape. 


The Temple 191 


It was a small building only 90 feet long. The 
porch (A) was 80 feet wide and 35 feet deep. The 
nave or Holy Place (B) was 60 feet long, 30 feet 
wide, and 45 feet high. In it was an altar for incense 
(1), atable for shewbread and ten lamps which burned 
night and day. It was lighted by windows set near the 
roof. The Shrine or Holy of Holies (C) was a perfect 
cube of 30 feet each way. It contained the Ark and the 





D 


D  -SOLOMONS TEMPLE 


Cherubim. These buildings were placed in a court (D) 
which measured 880 feet by 210 feet. In this court 
and before the porch were the altar of burnt offering, a 
basin of bronze, the movable “* lavers ’’ for washing, and 
two enormous bronze pillars (F) 25 feet high and 6 feet 
in diameter, called Jachin and Boaz. The Temple 
buildings were surrounded on all sides by a series of side 
chambers of three stories (G). 

The materials for the building, the labour for it, the 


192 How to Teach the Old Testament 


time it took have all been mentioned under A, but 
should be a part of the lesson at this point. 


3. How itt was Set Apart. The great service in chapter 
8: (1) transference of the Ark ; (2) Solomon’s address 
to the people ; (3) the great prayer. The various con- 
ditions and needs that would bring Israel to God’s House 
in prayer are beautifully described—defeat, drought, 
plague, capitivity, loneliness, sin. If possible this great 
prayer should be read aloud. 


4, Its Meaning. Why was this Temple built? Why 
is any church built? The best answer is: to help us 
to realize that all places are sacred, that God is every- 
where. Just as the purpose of the Sabbath was to 
teach us that all time belongs to God, so the Temple 
was to teach us that God is with us everywhere. We 
go to a church to worship that we may learn to have 
God with us always. Worship is not real if it is confined 
to one place, and religion is not real if it is confined to 
one day. The church exists to help us to practise the 
presence of God in daily life. That is why the very 
best should be given both in building and in ceremony. 
To acknowledge God no building is too splendid, and no 
service too beautiful. 


5. But we must not forget that in the New Testa- 
ment the true Temple of God is said to be the believing 
heart. The Temple of God is holy, “‘ which temple ye 
are.’’ The great end of religion is to have God in the 
heart. It is because churches help us to realize God 
that they are necessary. We may pray anywhere and 
find the wayside bush “‘ aflame with God.’ But the 
church helps us to pray and the soul in need will ever 
find God in His own House. 





The Disruption of the Nation 193 


XLVIII. THE DISRUPTION OF THE NATION 
INFLUENCE 
1 Kines 117°" and 12 


Date 938 B.c. 
A. For the Teacher 


1. The “revolt ’’ under Jeroboam was one of the 
most important crises in the history of the nation. 
Henceforth we have two kingdoms, “‘ Judah” in the 
south, and “* Israel,’ comprising roughly the ten tribes, in 
the north. This split was important historically for 
two reasons : (1) It weakened the nation, and prevented 
it becoming (as it might have been) a great eastern 
power. The tribes in the north were more wealthy, 
more civilized and more powerful. For some time the 
history is concerned mainly with the northern kingdom, 
and for two hundred years all the great prophets be- 
longed to this region. Judah was smaller and far 
weaker, but Judah persisted long after Israel had dis- 
appeared because it possessed the Temple and a con- 
tinuous dynasty and an impregnable position, as well 
as a simpler and purer faith. But the separation of 
these kingdoms left the nation weak. (2) The other 
result was as disastrous. The image worship estab- 
lished by Jeroboam opened the way for the sensuous 
Canaanite religion and this planted a seed of moral 
weakness in the northern kingdom which grew to some- 
thing more and more evil. 

2. The causes of the Disruption are fairly obvious. 
(1) One is to be found in geography The land of 
Palestine is broken by barriers of climate and of physical 

13 


194 How to Teach the Old Testament 


differences. Jerusalem was on a high and bare plateau 
and its climate and people differed greatly from those 
of the north. There had been this difference always. 
This made separation easier. (2) The immediate cause 
was the oppressive system of forced labour instituted 
by Solomon, and the heavy taxation demanded. Reho- 
boam refused any relief and, with a leader like Jero- 
boam, separation was inevitable. (8) Another cause was 
religious. Solomon had gone astray after foreign gods 
(11*®; 115°), and it is clear the prophets were against 
him, and it was probably prophecy that was behind 
Jeroboam in his revolt (11****), 


3. The whole story is told here from the standpoint 
of a much later and purer faith, and Jeroboam is roundly 
condemned. But if we judge him by the facts of his 
own time he is not so black as this. The separation 
was really justified politically. No freeman would 
stand what Rehoboam intended to impose. Also Jero- 
boam was not introducing religious innovation by his 
bull-worship. It seems to have been common enough. 
His fault was in continuing and establishing, for purely 
political and selfish ends, a superstitious religion that 
was already being abandoned by Israel’s purer faith. 


4, The teacher must choose between three lessons 
that may be drawn from this story. One is the way 
God brings good out of evil. Clearly God was over- 
ruling Jeroboam’s rebellion, and the event which weak- 
ened Israel politically made it possible for her to exist 
simply as a religious force and thus furthered God’s 
plan. Another lesson is the value of experience and 
age and their claims to be listened to. The third 
lesson, and the one here chosen, is the influence which 





The Disruption of the Nation 195 


a man’s acts continue to exert long after he is dead, 
the power of influence. 


B. Notes 


Chapter xi. 27. the breaches: he finished the wall David 
had left incomplete. 


Verse 28. mighty man of valour: i.e. a capable man 
who got things done. 
charge: R.V. “labour,” i.e. forced labour. 

Verses 31-32. the “ten tribes’’: a general name for 
the northern kingdom. Judah really had Simeon 
and Benjamin also. 

Chapter xii.1. Shechem: avery ancient and important 
place. Abraham settled there, Joseph was buried 
there, it was a city of refuge and a sacred city. 

Verse 11. scorpions: a species of spiked whips. 

Verse 16. A couplet of verse. Apparently the usual 
formula, handed down from the time when the 
Hebrews were nomads. See 2 Samuel 201. 

Verse 20. returned: i.e. from Egypt, where he had 
been till Solomon’s death. 


Verse 25. built: fortified. Penwel was east of Jordan. 
Verse 28. calves, of gold: i.e. plated with gold. 


Verse 81. an house, etc.: rather “houses of .. .”, 
i.e. shrines for the images. 


Verse 82. a feast. This was the Feast of Ingathering, 
called later the Feast of Weeks. 


C. The Lesson 


1. A stone dropped into a pool sends out wave after 
wave to the furthest shore. So here the act of Jero- 
boam had results far down the ages. 


196 How to Teach the Old Testament 


2. Jeroboam’s History. A man of great capacity 
singled out by Solomon and placed over the levy ; 
suspected of treason and flees to Egypt, where he stays 
till Solomon’s death. Evidently known to be on the 
side of the rebellious elements in Northern Israel. After 
Solomon’s death returns to Israel. 


3. The Course of Events at the Crisis. (1) The assembly 
at Shechem and the demands of the northern tribes. 
(2) Rehoboam’s foolish answer (compare Charles I). 
(3) The revolt. (4) Jeroboam’s clever measures to 
prevent the people going to Jerusalem ; his images at 
Bethel and Dan, two ancient sanctuaries. Notice, he 
was not introducing superstition, but he was establish- 
ing it, and turning the people from the better way to 
which they were being led. 


4. Jeroboam’s action was unprincipled and very 
dangerous. (1) It was bad in its motive, because he 
did this for ambitious motives and for political ends. 
(2) It was very evil in its results, because it established 
in the Northern Kingdom a kind of worship that was 
associated with moral evil. It was against this Elijah 
and Elisha and Amos had to fight later. 


5. All this shows how much may come of one act of 
ours. ‘“‘ Our deeds are like children that are born to 
us. They live and act apart from our will. Nay, 
children we may strangle, but our deeds never ”’ (George 
Eliot). The poet Gray says he loves people who leave 
traces behind them in their journey through life. It 
depends on the kind of traces. We all leave some kind 
of traces. They may be bad like Jeroboam’s. They 
may be good. David Livingstone tells that one of his 
ancestors said he had never been able to find the record 





The Disruption of the Nation |. 197 


of a dishonest man in his family history. Lecky the 
historian says that the life of Jesus has done more to 
elevate humanity than all that moralists or philosophers 
have said or done. This is what we are doing every 
day, leaving traces behind us in the lives of others. 


6. Two striking historical instances illustrate Reho- 
boam’s foolish conduct, one as a parallel, the other by 
contrast. The Kaiser William II threw off the advice 
and support of Bismarck, and preferred the counsels of 
younger and less wise men. He took his own head- 
strong way, which ended in the Great War. With 
Henry V of England it was very different. He was a 
wild youth, but on succeeding to the throne he dis- 
missed his wild associates, chose the wisest men to be 
his counsellors and actually confirmed in his post of 
Chief Justice Sir William Gascoigne, who had sent him 
earlier to prison. 


XLIX. ELIJAH 
GOD OR BAAL 


1 Kinecs 17-19 
Date about 870 B.c. 


A. For the Teacher 


1. The Situation. We see clearly the results of 
Jeroboam’s image-worship working themselves out. 
If people were taught to worship Jehovah by images 
of a bull there need not be a great step to the choice of 
Baal as at least a possible deity. The House of Omri, 
to which Ahab belonged, showed a leaning towards Baal- 
worship, and this was increased by the marriage of Ahab 





198 How to Teach the Old Testament 


and Jezebel, which may have had a political and com- 
mercial motive to begin with. But Jezebel was a 
fanatic, and was set upon making Melcarth, the Tyrian 
Baal, supreme in her adopted country. This was the 
occasion of the appearance and ministry of the great 
Elijah. 


2. A Notable Crisis. The issue, then, forced by Jezebel, 
was ‘“‘ Jehovah or Baal?’’ Jezebel wished to make Baal 
supreme. Ahab wished to have both. Elijah stood 
for the truth ‘“‘ Jehovah alone.’”’ It must not be sup- 
posed that Elijah in the ninth century taught (or 
believed) that there is only one God in the universe. 
That is monotheism, and it was not taught or believed 
till Amos and Hosea in the next century. The pre- 
valent belief at this time was that every nation had its 
god, and the truth Elijah taught was that for Israel 
Jehovah alone was to be worshipped and served. This 
was not far from monotheism, but, theoretically, it did 
not go quite so far. For all practical purposes, how- 
ever, it was the same thing. And therefore Elijah’s 
work in making Jehovah supreme in the national life 
prepared the way for the work of the great prophets 
of the eighth century, Amos, Hosea, and Isaiah. What 
was at stake then in the conflict between Elijah and 
Jezebel was nothing less than the existence of true 
religion. A striking parallel is the conflict between 
Knox and Queen Mary. It is to be noticed that here 
again we have a clear instance of the progressiveness 
of Revelation. 


3. With regard to the miracles in this section the 
following wise words of Professor McFadyen may be 
quoted :—* Rationalistic attempts have been made to 


Elyjah 199 


reduce this beautiful religious poetry to the level of 
bald historical prose by interpreting the word rendered 
“ravens” by merchants or Arabs; but it is only fair 
to interpret such stories in the spirit in which they were 
written—the spirit of poetry and religious imagination.” 
To this may be added that the task of the teacher is 
to grasp and convey the truth in these stories, viz. the 
reality of Divine care and Providence, without worrying 
about their historical character. 


B. Notes 


Chapter xvii. 3. before Jordan: i.e. east of Jordan. 

Verse 9. Zarephath: on the coast between Tyre and 
Zidon and therefore in Phoenicia. See Luke 47> 6, 

Chapter xvii. 18. Baalim: local deities. 

Verse 19. prophets of Baal: i.e. of the great Melcarth, 
the Tyrian Baal. 

Verse 20. Mount Carmel: the great ridge jutting out 
almost into the sea. See Smith’s Historical Geo- 
graphy or Henderson’s Palestine. 

Verse 21. How long halt ye, etc.? Halt = to limp— 
‘““how long limp on two unequal legs?’ (Glaze- 
brook). 

Verse 29. prophesied: a bad translation. The mean- 
ing is, worked themselves up into a frenzy like 


Dervishes. 

Verse 40. Kishon: the stream that ran just below 
Carmel. 

Chapter xix. 8. Beersheba: on the edge of the southern 
desert. 


Verse 8. the mount of God: called either Horeb or 
Sinai. 





200 How to Teach the Old Testament 


Verses 15, 16. None of these was anointed by Elijah. 
Only one was really appointed by him. 

Verse 18. kissed him: a common form of worship. 

Verse 20. go back: a test of Elisha’s earnestness. 


C. The Lesson 


1. In this lesson we are seeing some of the waves 
caused by the stone which Jeroboam dropped when he 
set up the bull images to be worshipped. It was but 
a step from this to the worship of Baal, and when 
Jezebel appeared in Israel she determined to make 
Melcarth, the Tyrian Baal, the supreme god of the land. 
Jezebel is the real ‘‘ villain of the piece.””’ Ahab was a 
weak man and Jezebel was to him what Lady Macbeth 
was to Macbeth. Show that what was at stake was the 
very existence of true religion. 


2. The appearance of Elijah. His greatness. The 
Knox of Israel. His mysterious appearances ; what 
he stood for: the supremacy of Jehovah, ‘‘ God alone.” 


3. The Sequence of the Events. (1) Appearance before 
Ahab. (2) The drought and famine. (8) Elijah at 
Cherith and Zarephath. (4) Elijah and Obadiah. (5) 
The great Assembly on Carmel. (6) Elijah a fugitive, 
his visions at Beersheba and Horeb. 


4, The Great Issue. The core of the lesson is Elijah’s 
question, “How long will you limp between two 
opinions ?’’ Ahab wanted to have Jehovah and Baal. 
Elijah said, ‘“* You must have one or other.”’ ‘‘ God only ” 
was his watchword. He was like Knox before Mary, 
like the Baptist before Herod, like Paul before Cesar, 
like Jesus before Pilate. He stood for the supremacy 
of God over life, the true God as King over all. Ahab 





Elijah 201 


was like Cardinal Wolsey, who wanted to make the 
best of king and God, like the young ruler of the gos- 
pels, like the vicar of Bray who was a Catholic under 
Henry VIII and a Protestant under Edward VI, a 
Romanist again under Mary and a Protestant under 
Klizabeth. ‘“‘ Ye cannot serve God and Mammon.” 


5. Now notice what comes from choosing ‘“‘ God 
alone.” It gives courage to face anything, because 
you know God is with you. And it gives help in need. 
Elijah was not only fearless because of his faith, but 
in every need God sustained him and cared for him. 
These things come when you make God your Lord and. 
Saviour, 


ts 


L. NABOTH’S VINEYARD 
HELPING THE WEAK 
1 Kines 21 


A. For the Teacher 


1. This lesson cannot be omitted, because it is 
necessary to complete the picture of Elijah. In Lesson 
XLIX we saw him as the champion of the true religion 
against error. Here we see him as the champion of 
the weak and oppressed against tyranny. And this 
was characteristic of Elijah, as tt was of all the prophets. 
Nathan stood up against David, and the prophecies of 
Amos and Hosea and the other great prophets are full 
of denunciations of injustice to the poor and the weak. 


2. The crime of Jezebel was peculiarly heinous. The 
land of Israel was possessed by many small proprietors 
(cf. peasant proprietorship in France to-day), and 


202 How to Teach the Old Testament 


these were deeply attached to their crofts because 
they were not only their own but had come down from 
their ancestors. And there was another reason. All 
the land of Israel belonged to Jehovah, and those who 
owned it held it as a gift from Him. Hence the laws 
provided clearly against the alienation of the land, 
Leviticus 2523 and Numbers 36’. This was why Ahab 
was powerless in face of Naboth’s refusal, and why 
Jezebel did not dare to seize the land until Naboth was 
executed for treason and his land fell to the crown. It 
is quite probable that the crime aroused deep resentment 
and that it was one cause of the fall of the House of Omri. 


3. Ahab is presented to us in different lights in two 
sets of narratives. In the life of Elijah he is weak, 
superstitious, a tool of his wife. Jezebel, the “* fanatical 
termagant,” is the dominating force. They are an 
anticipation of Macbeth and his wife (‘‘ Infirm of 
purpose, give me the dagger’’). But in the account 
of the Syrian War he is the strong soldier, capable, 
brave, patriotic. Both pictures are true. Like many 
others, Ahab was a mixed character, and, like many 
other men, he was brave and true abroad and a cipher 
in his own house. 


B. Notes 


Verse 9. set Naboth on high: i.e. on the seat of the 
accused. Two witnesses were necessary by law 
for any accusation. 


Verse 13. sons of Belial: worthless fellows who could 
be bribed. 
stoned him: this was the Jewish method of execu- 
tion. Stephen was stoned by the Jews; Jesus 
was put to death by the Roman method. 


Naboth’s Vineyard 203 


C. The Lesson 


1. Pacture Jezreel, a city built by Ahab on the spur 
of Gilboa, a glorious view (see Smith’s Historical Geo- 
graphy, pp. 381, 382); Ahab’s palace at the city wall; 
and, just outside, a vineyard which he coveted because 
it would be a fine garden for the palace. Describe a 
vineyard (any Bible dictionary) and how it was kept 
and worked, why it was so dear to Naboth, because it 
was his property that came down to him from his 
fathers, and because it was God’s land given to him to 
cultivate. 


2. Ahab and Naboth. Naboth’s refusal (quote). 


3. Ahab powerless. Why? Because religion and 
law and public opinion were all on Naboth’s side. And 
so, Jezebel, who hated to be crossed, hit on a plan by 
which the land would fall to Ahab without any bargain. 


4. Jezebel’s infamous plot and its execution. 


5. Ahab and Elijah. A dramatic scene! When 
Ahab drove from Samaria to take possession the first 
person he saw in the vineyard was the stern figure of 
the prophet. 


6. The terrible judgment on Ahab’s house for this 
crime, which probably brought about the fall of this 
House, as Herod’s crime in beheading the Baptist led 
to his ruin and death in exile. 


7. The great truth in this story is that God is on the 
side of the weak and oppressed. Look at the Bible, 
at Nathan and Amos and Hosea. The finest example 
is Jesus cleansing the Temple. This He did because 
the priests were defrauding and oppressing the poor. 
So ought all God’s servants to be on the same side as 


204 How to Teach the Old Testament 


God. And they have been. Witness Andrew Melville, 
who said to James VI of Scotland when he tried to 
oppress the Kirk, that there was a King, Christ Jesus, 
and of His Kingdom James was a subject, “not a 
King, nor a lord, nor a head, but a member.’ Witness 
also the story of Becket, and that of Savonarola, and 
Knox, and the Scottish Covenanters. 


8. Hence the duty in this lesson for youth is to stand 
up for the weak—at school against the bully, out- 
side against those who jeer at some defect in others; 
to help the blind and the crippled and those who are 
in need of a champion; and then in later life as 
citizens to take the side of the poor and the side of 
justice and fair play for all. 


LI. ELISHA 
SEEING THE UNSEEN 
2 Kines 6° 


A. For the Teacher 


1. We are conscious of a descent as we pass from 
Elijah to Elisha. Elijah was a very great man and he 
had a really great message. We can hardly say either 
of these things about Elisha. He “ carried on”’ in his 
own way the ministry he had received from his master. 
And if he was more commonplace, he was also more 
kindly, more familiar, a man of towns and villages 
and known to all. But there is one thing in which he 
resembled Elijah. He was an ardent politician and 
patriot. He took a great part in public events, as this 
chapter shows, and there can be little doubt that he 





Elisha 205 


was the “hidden hand” behind the revolution of 
Jehu (Lesson LIT). He was a man of his time, sharing 
in some ways its defects, its roughness and violence, 
but he was evidently loved and highly honoured. 


2. The narrative of Elisha’s ministry is not a history. 
It consists of a series of disjointed stories, arranged in 
a sort of order. They are nearly all miraculous stories 
(229-4 t ye 488. ate 64. G1). Even? after his ‘death: 
his bones performed a miracle. These stories were 
favourite tales with the “Sons of the Prophets’ and 
continued to be told for very long after the prophet’s 
death. Two of the most beautiful are the Healing of 
Naaman (which should be taught round the little 
maid, see Lesson X XIX), and the subject of our lesson. 
This has been selected because it illustrates one great 
quality of a true prophet, his intimate converse with 
God. 


B. Notes 


Verse 13. Dothan: 10 miles north of Samaria. 

Verse 18. when they came down: i.e. when the 
Syrians came down from the hills where they were 
encamped. 


C. The Lesson 


1. Contrast Elijah, the stern, mysterious, mighty 
figure, with Elisha, the homely, kindly prophet, yet a 
real prophet. What is a prophet? One who “ speaks 
for’’ God. But if a man is to speak for God he must 
know God. Here is a story which shows how well 
Elisha knew God and what his knowledge gave to him. 


2. The Syrian War. Where Syria is, and how 
dangerous an enemy to Israel. The fact that the 


206 How to Teach the Old Testament 


Syrian king could surround Dothan so easily shows 
how formidable Syria was. But the king’s plans were 
often defeated because they became known to Israel 
through Elisha. Probably the king talked too much. 
At any rate he was angry and resolved to take Elisha 
captive. 

3. In Dothan. The teacher must give the account 
of the lad’s vision in the beautiful words of Scripture, 
pointing out the meaning of the vision, that these 
unseen powers were far greater than the Syrian powers. 


4, The Blinded Syrians. An evidence of this superi- 
ority is at once given in the way in which the Syrians 
are rendered helpless and taken right into Samaria, 
where, however, they were generously treated and 
dismissed. 


5. The great truth in this story is seeing the Unseen. 
There used to be a well-known book called Eyes and 
No-eyes which showed how much there is in nature 
that only those with “eyes”? can see. There is a 
great deal. We can’t see the ether, we can’t see elec- 
tricity, we can’t see thoughts. But that is only part 
of the truth. There are far higher things than these 
that we can’t “see” with our eyes, and yet are just 
as real as thoughts or electricity. And one of these is 
God’s presence in history and in our life. 


6. How do we “See” this? One of the ways is 
shown in this story—by prayer. Prayer opens the eyes 
of the soul to see God, to see Him so truly that He 
becomes very real to us. Another way is by doing 
God’s will (‘“‘ Blessed are the pure in heart, for they 
shall see God”’). Every single soul who prays and 
obeys God will know that He is here with him. 


Elisha 207 


7. What this does for Us. It does for us what it did 
for the lad in the story, delivers us from all fear. We 
are often as much afraid of dangers and trials and 
disasters as this lad was of the Syrians. And we 
worry about them. Fear is a great enemy, because 
we think material forces are dangerous. But once we 
know God we become sure that He that is with us is 
greater than any material force. ‘“‘If God is for us, 
who is against us ?’’? (Rom. 831 R.V.). “ In this story 
the one sees only the danger; the other, seeing also 
the unseen Defender, can say to his timid companion, 
‘Fear not’’’ (McFadyen). Point out that the unseen 
things are by far the most powerful in life. Eu.g. a 
thought may break up a civilization. A word may 
change a whole life. And the most powerful of all 
forces is the power of the Spirit of God. ‘° Not by 
might, nor by power, but by My Spirit,” saith the 
Lord. 


LI, JEHU 
ZEAL 


2 Kincs 9 and 10 
Date 842 B.c. 


A. For the Teacher 


1. This magnificent narrative, unsurpassed in the 
Old Testament for graphic power, tells of the fall of 
the House of Omri and the founding of the House of 
Jehu, which lasted for a hundred years. Syria, lying 
adjacent to Israel and to be distinguished from Assyria, 
had become a rather annoying enemy of Israel. But 
the rise of the eastern Assyrian power and its ambition 


208 How to Teach the Old Testament 


to bring all the western lands into subjection, including 
Egypt, Israel, and Syria, was keeping Syria busy and 
lessening her power to harm Israel. Hence the 
situation we find here, Israel successfully keeping 
Syria at bay in the region east of Jordan. Jehu was 
commander there in the absence of the king, Joram, 
who had been wounded and had retired to Jezreel to 
recover. 


2. The story of Jehu’s murderous progress is a dread- 
ful one. First the two kings of Israel and Judah, then 
Ahab’s whole family, then all his following, then forty- 
two of Ahaziah’s relatives, then the whole assembly of 
Baal’s worshippers, all were put to death ruthlessly. 
Jehu waded to the throne in blood. Yet we must 
not condemn him too easily. Elijah slew all the 
prophets of Baal. It was a savage time, and Jehu 
evidently believed that the whole brood must be ex- 
terminated if Baal worship was to cease. He succeeded 
in his aim. The narrator of “ Kings ”’ wholly approved 
of his actions (10°). It is probable Elisha stood aloof 
from Jehu’s violent acts, and the prophet Hosea con- 
demned them utterly (14). But Jehu was a strong 
man and there is no ground for doubting his *‘ zeal for 
Jehovah.”” He was prompt, brave, and resolute. The 
keynote of his character was zeal. From our point 
of view his acts were wrong. From the point of view 
of his age they were not. 


3. Jehonadab the son of Rechab (1015) was the 
founder of the Rechabites, a primitive sect of nomads 
who lived in tents and refused to live in houses, 
abstained from wine, and would not practise agriculture. 
They advocated the “simple life.’ The best account 





Jehu 209 
of them is in Jeremiah 35. Jehonadab evidently 
agreed with Jehu’s “‘thorough’’ methods. His fol- 
lowers were intensely loyal Jehovah-worshippers, and 
their abstinence from agriculture and wine was due 
largely to their belief that these things had corrupted 
Israel’s pure faith in Jehovah. 


B. Notes 


Chapter ix. 6. Elisha anointed Jehu privately as 
Samuel anointed Saul (1 Sam. 10!) and David 
(1 Sam. 161%), 

Verse 11. mad fellow. All the ancients believed that 
inspiration and madness were allied. 

Verse 25. burden: i.e. prophecy. Cf. Isaiah 131. 

Verse 27. garden house: rather, ‘* Engannim,” which 
was on the way to Judah. 

Ibleam, near Engannim. 

Megiddo. The way to Judah was cut off and 
therefore Ahaziah fled north. A different account 
is given in 2 Chronicles 22°, where he is said to have 
fled to Samaria. 

Verse 31. Read with R.V. “Is it peace, thou Zimri, 
thy master’s murderer?” Zimri, had murdered 
his master (1 Kings 16°*°). 

Chapter x. 1. Sons probably means “ descendants.” 


Verse 15. Ifitbe. This is Jehu’s answer. 
C. The Lesson 


1. Water must boil to do its proper work. So must 
people. They must have zeal if they are to be of any 
use, and ‘‘ zeal’? comes from a Greek word meaning to 
boil. Nobody can do anything unless he is in earnest 
about it. 

14 





210 How to Teach the Old Testament 


2. Here is an Example of that: Jehu. He was a man 
full of energy. He was recognized afar off by his 
furious driving. He did everything decisively because 
he put his heart into it.. Here is his story: (1) The 
anointing at Ramoth-Gilead. Note how promptly Jehu 
acted and how thorough he was. (2) His chariot-drive 
to Jezreel and the death of the two kings. (8) The death 
of Jezebel, of Ahab’s family and followers. And finally 
(4) the destruction of the whole of Baal’s worshippers. 


3. To us these acts are utterly wrong and dreadful. 
But (1) we must judge a man’s acts by his own time 
not by ours, and according to the standard of that time 
he did no wrong; (2) Jehu believed he had been 
anointed by the prophet just for this very thing, to 
exterminate Baal worship. That was his motive 
(101°), and he did this with all his might. We can 
learn even from wicked men sometimes how to do the 
right thing. Some men put all their power into doing 
wrong things. This is zeal. And we ought to put 
the same into doing right. 


4. Look at some examples. Columbus tried every- 
where to get ships for his quest, first in his own city of 
Genoa, then from the King of Portugal, then from the 
King of Spain, and all the time he endured patiently all 
kinds of insults and sneers at his enterprise. Living- 
stone was so determined to fit himself for his life-work 
that in his workshop he had a Latin book propped up 
where he could catch a line or two whenever he had 
the chance. Palissy the potter broke up the very 
table and chairs in his room to feed the furnace in 
which his experiments were being made. Tell also 
how &. L. Stevenson learnt to write with a fine style 


Jehu 211 
by persistent practice. Quote these sayings: “* Where 
there’s a will there’s a way’’; ‘‘ Whatsoever thy hand 
findeth to do, do it with thy might’; “‘ Seest thou a 
man diligent in his business? He shall stand before 
kings.’’ But the frog that sat on the bank with open 
mouth waiting for flies to drop in died of starvation. 


5. Zeal is needed in games, in work, in religion. Put 
your heart into everything you do—play, lessons, 
prayers, kindness—and you will do it all well. 


LU. THE WRITING PROPHETS 
Date, Eighth Century B.c. 


1. We come now to by far the most momentous 
event in the history of Israel, the appearance of the 
great prophets of the eighth century. One object of 
these lessons has been to explain and enforce the reality 
and importance of the truth that the Divine revelation 
recorded in the Bible is a growth. The truth about 
God and about conduct came by degrees. It grew like 
the light from the grey of dawn to the noonday in 
Christ. We have seen that the conception of God 
held by the patriarchs was very primitive, anthropo- 
morphic. A great step forward was made when Moses 
proclaimed God as the God of the nation with a purpose 
in its life. This was made clearer by Elijah’s great 
message that God alone was to be worshipped. But 
hitherto there was no real belief that there is only one 
God in the whole universe. And it was this stupendous 
truth that the prophets Amos, Hosea, and Isaiah 
declared. There is only one God, who is the God of 





212 How to Teach the Old Testament 





Israel. All other “‘ gods” are nothing but pieces of 
wood. ‘The true God is behind Creation, behind history, 
in all life. All nations are His servants, even when they 
do not knowit. Such was the teaching of the “ writing 
prophets.”’ It is called monotheism, which is not only a 
belief in one God, but a belief that only one God exists. 


2. There is a great deal of confusion in people’s 
minds as to what a prophet really was. The popular 
idea is that a prophet was one who foretold future 
events. But that is a serious error. Predicting was 
a small part of a prophet’s work. /Pro-phet means 
literally ‘‘ one who speaks for’ some person. That is, 
he is one who speaks for God to man. He received a 
message from God which he had to deliver to man. 
Sometimes this message was about the future, about 
what was going to happen, about the better time that 
would come when God was to be fully made known. 
But usually the prophet’s message was about the 
present, about God and His relation to Israel, about 
God’s nature and His will. This message was often 
about political affairs and about Israel’s duty. And so 
the prophets frequently intervened in national policy. 
They were statesmen as well as preachers. They were 
as really statesmen as Mr. Gladstone or Mr. Lloyd 
George or Lord Beaconsfield. See, for example, how 
Nathan interfered in the choice of a king after David, 
EKlijah’s action towards Ahab, Elisha’s anointing of Jehu, 
the message of Amos about social justice, and so on. 


8. Prophecy in Israel may be divided into two periods : 
(1) that of spoken prophecy, (2) that of written pro- 
phecy. In the first period the prophet wrote nothing. 
He depended on his own personality and authority. 





The Writing Prophets 213 
At first he learnt the mind of God through dreams and 
omens (stories of Joseph, Aaron’s rod, Gideon’s fleece, 
etc.). But later these primitive methods were put 
aside and he learnt God’s will in fellowship with God. 
The greatest of these earlier prophets were Samuel, 
Elijah, and Elisha. In the second period the prophet 
began for the first time to write down his message, we 
shall see in a moment why. These writing prophets 
are the greatest figures in Israel’s history or in the history 
of any nation. The earliest of them were Amos and 
Hosea in the eighth century. 


4. Now there were certain contrasts between earlier 
prophecy, which was only spoken, and later prophecy, 
which was written, or rather between the prophets of 
the two periods. (1) The earlier prophets used violent 
means to carry out their ends. Elijah slaughtered 
Baal’s prophets, and others used similar methods. 
The writing prophets utterly discarded these means 
and depended entirely on the power of truth. (2) The 
later prophets wrote down their messages. Why ? 
Partly because the one thing they depended on was 
the word of God given to them. And they wished this 
word preserved in order that it might do its work. But 
partly also because their message was scorned by their 
contemporaries and they appealed to posterity to 
vindicate their truth. (8) The third characteristic of 
the writing prophets was the greatness of the message 
they had to deliver. It was a message about God first 
of all, as already explained. Monotheism was not 
dreamt of anywhere in the world at this time, and the 
Divine inspiration of the prophets can be seen in that 
fact alone. But they had a message also for and about 
Israel. One of the chief features of all the writing 


214 How to Teach the Old Testament 


prophets is their doctrine that religion must issue in 
right conduct or it is a sham. That is why Amos and 
Hosea condemn the unrighteousness and injustice of 
their time, and say that a religion which is merely 
worship or ritual or sacrifice and not also justice and 
mercy is really hateful to God. The great prophets 
were at one in this and were always the champions of 
the oppressed. _ 

5. Finally, while all the writing prophets declared 
the truth of monotheism, each of them had one special 
aspect of this truth to give to Israel. They all declared 
that God was the one supreme Creator and Ruler of 
mankind, but each had his own message about this God. 
The following are the chief of these prophets, their 
dates and their messages. 


Amos, 760 B.c. God’s Righteousness. 

Hosea, 740 B.c. God’s Love. 

Isaiah, 740-701 B.c. God’s Holiness. 

Jeremiah, 626-586 B.c. God’s Care for the Indi- 
vidual. 

Ezekiel, 590 B.c. God’s Future for Israel. 

2 Isaiah, 556 B.c. God’s Universal Reign. 


LIV. AMOS AND ISRAEL 
RIGHTEOUSNESS AND JUDGMENT 
2 Kines 1477*°; Amos 1, 4, 5, 6 and 7 
Date 760 B.c. 


A. For the Teacher 


1. Jeroboam II was the last ruler of the House of 
Jehu. He was a great king, a fine soldier, and a lavish 





Amos and Israel 215 


builder. He brought the northern kingdom, Israel, 
to a pitch of prosperity and power it had not known 
since Solomon’s day. This was due to the fact that 
Syria, the formidable neighbour which had done Israel 
so much harm, was being troubled by the great Assyrian 
empire. Assyria had just begun to carry out her policy 
of subjugating the nations to the west, and she began 
with Syria, whose capital was Damascus. Jeroboam 
was thus free to build up a great kingdom, and he 
succeeded. There was wealth in abundance in Israel. 
Palaces went up everywhere; vineyards and olive- 
yards abounded. And with it ail there was great 
religiousness. Crowds came to the shrines at Bethel 
and Gilgal. There were lavish sacrifices. The festivals, 
like the sabbath and the new moon, were scrupulously 
observed. We learn little of this from the Book of 
Kings, but we learn much from the prophecies of Amos. 
There were, however, ‘‘two dark shadows which spoiled 
everything. ... One near at hand, the other far off. 
The shadow at hand was the misery of the poor... . 
Famished and ill-clad, cheated and overworked, they 
lived without either rights or self-respect. The shadow 
afar off was the army of mighty Assyria drawing ever 
nearer.’ (The Bible for Youth, p. 416.) 


2. Into this situation came the prophet Amos. He 
came from the terrible desert of Judea, that awful 
region between Judea and the Dead Sea from which 
John the Baptist also came, where men see things 
simply and truly. Amos was not a_ professional 
prophet. He was a herdsman, looking after his 
flock and making journeys to Israel to sell his wool. 
It was on these journeys he saw the awful con- 
dition of the northern kingdom, its contrast of 





216 How to Teach the Old Testament 


wealth with slavish poverty, its social injustice and 
intense religiousness, its outward “service”’ of God 
and its moral rottenness. And out of the stern reality 
of the desert he brought his great message about God 
and about duty. His message about God was that He 
was the God of all the earth and ruled over nations as 
a God of righteousness. His message about duty was 
that God would accept nothing from men but righteous 
living. Religious worship plus injustice and immorality 
was abhorrent to Him and always and everywhere 
would bring judgment on those who practised it. For 
his doctrine of God see chapters 1, 477%, 5°°; social 
wrongs, , 5°74, 67; empty relizion, 4°55 Gp 


certain judgment, 7**, 9'*; the true way of life, 
5S tices 6 14 15 


C. The Lesson 


1. Describe the wilderness of Judea (see Smith’s 
Historical Geography or Henderson’s Palestine) and the 
influence of its bareness and simplicity on the mind. 
Amos the herdsman of Tekoa and his occupation. His 
travels to Israel to sell his wool. 


2. What Amos saw. Read Amos 4, 5, and 6. The 
profuse wealth of the rich, the horrible poverty of the 
poor; the oppression and deceit and self-indulgence 
and immorality. And with it all a zealous use of the 
forms of religion, worship, and sacrifice. Amos saw it 
all in the light of the truth he had seen in the desert, 
that the righteous God is God of all the earth, to whom 
all are subject, and who reckons with all. 


8. And so he burst on the assembly at Bethel with 
a terrible message, ‘‘ God does not want all this ritual 





Amos and Israel 217 
and sacrifice. He wants one thing, justice, right living, 
truth and kindness. And where He finds injustice and 
oppression and vice, judgment, awful judgment will fall.”’ | 
This message came like a thunderbolt on the people, 
and Amos was forcibly sent about his business (77° "’). 


4, The people would not hear him. And so Amos 
went home and wrote down his message because he 
knew it was God’s truth and would be found later to 
be true. 


5. Amos received from God a truth which is as much 
needed to-day as it was then. We think of God as 
love, and that is true. But righteousness is a part of 
His love. And we do not know the truth if we think 
of God as weak or indulgent. One thing He demands 
above all is right conduct, doing right by God and man, 
and all unrighteous conduct is punished, always and 
everywhere. We cannot ever evade the judgment of 
God, which is as certain as day and night. 


6. This is true of nations as well as individuals. 
Recall the Roman Empire, France before the Revolu- 
tion, and Russia before the War. All these powers fell 
because of social wrongdoing. God judges the nations, 
and when a nation is like Israel in Amos’ time it Is 
doomed. 


7. But it is as true of men as of nations. We cannot 
escape the results of our evil-doing. No matter how 
‘* religious ’’ we are, God demands from us not worship 
only, but justice and honour and truth. And those 
who offer Him worship and practise at the same time 
lying or cheating or filthiness will ¢nevitably suffer. 
Nothing will suffice in God’s sight but righteousness, 
and nothing is so certain as God’s judgment. 


218 How to Teach the Old Testament 


LV. THE FALL OF THE NORTHERN 
KINGDOM 


THE HALF-HEARTED 
2 Kines 17, Isatan 57° 


Date 722 B.c. 
A. For the Teacher 


1. We are come to a tragic event, the end of the 
kingdom of Israel. Israel had been far more powerful 
and far wealthier than Judah. Nearly all the great 
men whose names are mentioned in the history belong 
to the northern kingdom—Joshua, Gideon, Samuel, 
Elijah, Elisha, Hosea; all are northerners, and even 
Amos prophesied in the north. After Solomon Judah 
had no history till Isaiah’s time. And now Israel’s 
end had come. The historical situation is easily 
grasped. ‘There were two great rival powers at this 
time at opposite ends of the known world, Egypt and 
Assyria. Assyria had become the dominant power in 
the east, and she first appears in the west when she is 
appealed to by Ahaz to come and save him from the 
attacks of the kings of Syria and Israel (2 Kings 16°7%). 
Thereafter she had conquered Syria and Israel in turn 
and the King of Israel (the last king) Hoshea paid 
tribute to Assyria. But at the instigation of Egypt 
Hoshea was foolish enough to stop paying this tribute 
(2 Kings 17%), relying on the help of Egypt, which was 
not forthcoming. ‘The siege of Samaria and its capture 
were the result. Israel’s story had become like that 
of a Balkan State where kings climbed to the throne 


The Fall of the Northern Kingdom 219 


by assassination, and the state of Israel had become so 
bad that it reminds us of France just before the Revolu- 
tion. The leaders had the same foolish confidence and 
there were the same corruption and weakness. But the 
Assyrian was onthe way and Isaiah gives us a magnifi- 
cent description of his march on Samaria (Isa. 57°”). 


2. Origin of the Samaritans. One of the most inter- 
esting facts in connection with the destruction of the 
northern kingdom is the origin of the Samaritan people. 
When Samaria fell, Sargon, who actually reduced it, 
carried 28,000 inhabitants away to Assyria. In their 
place he sent colonists of Assyrian men. These inter- 
married with the women of Northern Israel and from 
these unions came the half-breed race, half-Assyrian 
and half-Israelite. This fact explains the feeling that 
existed later between the pure Jews and the Samaritans. 
The Jew was bent on keeping himself separate from 
every taint of heathenism. He was proud of his purity 
of blood and race. On the other hand, like all half- 
caste peoples the Samaritans were anxious to be taken 
for the higher race, and hated the Jew because he 
would not acknowledge the Samaritans’ claim to be 
Jewish. We find this feeling very strong in Ezra’s 
time, in the book of Nehemiah and in the gospels. It 
explains the choice of the hero in the parable of the 
Good Samaritan, which is a characteristic example of 
the courage of Jesus. 


B. Notes 


Chapter xvii. 4. King of Assyria, not Shalmaneser 
but Sargon, who succeeded to the throne in 722 





220 How to Teach the Old Testament 


when Samaria was captured. Sargon himself tells 
us he carried away 27,290 people. 
Present: i.e. the annual tribute. 


Verse 9. from the tower ... city: every type of city 
from the least. upwards. 


Verse 24. All these are places in Babylonia. 


Verse 25. The Rabbis called Samaritans ‘“‘ proselytes 
of lions.” 


Verse 26. It was the universal belief of the time that 
each land was under the power of its own god. 


Verse 28. how they should fear: i.e. worship and 
sacrifice to the god. 


Verse 41. Even at the return from exile the Samaritans 
claimed that they had the same religion as the 
Jews. (See Ezra 42.) 


C. The Lesson 


1. How futile is anything in this world into which 
people put only half their hearts! Games, for example, 
or work, or religion. It is always failure in every case. 
Look at a boy with only half his mind on his lesson. 
“Keep your eye on the ball” is the maxim for golf 
and for every activity as well. 


2. That is the explanation of the tragic end of Israel. 
She came to her end of destruction because she had 
served God with only half her heart. ‘Tell the story. 
The great Assyrian power on the horizon. Its menace. 
But in Israel nothing to resist it, no power of faith, no 
strength. Its whole strength had been rotted away 
by self-indulgence and injustice, like France before the 
flood of the Revolution overwhelmed her. Hence 





The Fall of the Northern Kingdom 221 


when the terrible power came on like a marching Fate 
(quote Isa. 5°°°°) Israel fell like a house of cards. One 
result of great interest is the beginning of the Samaritan 
race (see A). 

3. The cause of Israel’s weakness was that for long 
she had tried to serve God and Baal, giving worship 
to God and real obedience to Baal. In other words 
worship and the pursuit of base pleasures, and money 
at the expense of justiceand mercy. The result was that 
the common people were oppressed, in poverty, while the 
rich were rolling in luxury. And that meant a nation 
weakened and unfit to last or stand against any 
assault. 


4, The reason why such half-hearted religion brought 
disaster is that when you try to combine good and evil 
in your life the evil rots out the good. Combine 
worship and dishonesty, for example, and the dishonesty 
soon makes the sense of God unreal. If you choose 
to have evil in your life God must go and all God 
means. 

5. Christ’s words: ‘“‘ Ye cannot serve God and 
mammon,” “ Seek first the kingdom of God,” “‘ No 
man having put his hand to the plough, and looking 
back, is fit for the kingdom of God.’ Does this mean 
no pleasure? By no means. It means simply “ God 
first.” And when God is first all the world and all it 
contains of pleasure and of good are open to you. 
‘“‘ Look, Lord Jesus!” said a Hindu Christian boy 
when he had made a fine drop-kick at football. That 
is religion, and the religion that brings strength and 
endurance and happiness. 


oD How to Teach the Old Testament 


LVI. ISAIAH AND JUDAH 


IsAIAH 5 and 6 
Date 740 B.c. 


1. ‘‘ Happy is the nation that has no history.” If 
this be true Judah from the time of Solomon was happy. 
Almost nothing is said of her. She produced no great 
men. Nothing happened like the stirring events of 
Israel’s history. Yet she continued long after the 
northern kingdom had been destroyed. This was 
partly owing to her geographical seclusion on a high 
plateau, partly to the loyalty of her people to one 
dynasty, and partly to the fact that, on the whole, her 
life was simpler and her religion purer than Israel’s. 
But about 740 B.c. she began to come into the picture 
and play her part in the world-drama. The Assyrian 
power was looming like a dark cloud on the horizon. 
It had subdued Syria and Israel, and now it was Judah’s 
turn. Assyria’s policy was like Germany’s, to take 
her rivals one by one, but she was more successful than 
Germany in carrying it out. The whole story will be 
clear and the meaning of Isaiah’s prophecies will be 
clear if it is remembered that the threat from Assyria 
was the fact in everybody’s mind. Ahaz tried to buy 
off the danger by paying tribute to Assyria. Hezekiah 
tried to stave it off by alliance with Egypt and others 
against the common foe. But the question of foreign 
politics at the time was simply how to deal with the 
threat hanging over the nation from the power and 
ambition of Assyria. We shall see in next lesson what 
attitude Isaiah adopted. But one thing more needs 


Isaiah and Judah 223 
to be grasped in order to read Isaiah intelligently. 
Judah had begun to share the wealth and prosperity 
that were Israel’s earlier. And the same evils grew up 
in Judah which Amos condemned in Israel, the violent 
contrast between the very rich and the very poor, the 
moral deterioration of the women, the greed and rapacity 
of the moneylenders, drunkenness and idolatry. The 
old simplicity of Judah’s life had been corrupted. 


2. This was the situation into which came the greatest 
of the prophets, Isaiah. Glazebrook says that the 
history of Judah at this time is chiefly of importance 
as a background to Isaiah’s life and prophecies, just as 
the history of medizval Italy is interesting as a back- 
ground to Dante. Isaiah is different from Amos in 
that he was a noble, and highly educated. He was 
born about 760. He tells us how he became a prophet. 
He had gone into the Temple and fell into a kind of 
trance in which he saw angels with bright wings and 
*‘serpent-like forms called seraphim”’ floating in the 
distance. He was oppressed by the sins of his people 
and more and more clearly saw that some one must go 
to them with the truth. This truth was plain to him, 
God’s supreme greatness and His demand for trust and 
obedience from His people. But who was to go? 
“Why not Isaiah himself? But he was unworthy. As 
he thought of this it seemed as if one came with a live 
coal and cleansed his unworthiness away. And then 
his “‘ call’? was clear and his way determined. He 
had had a vision of God, of his people, of himself, and of 
his duty. And so began his great career. Some 
things may be said of that career which will make it 
more interesting to read his prophecies. One is that 
Isaiah was at once a statesman, a poet, and a preacher. 





224 How to Teach the Old Testament 


He was a statesman, for many of his prophecies are 
about ‘foreign affairs.”” He was the adviser of the 
king, a sort of prime minister, and he prophesied about 
the relation of Judah to Assyria. But his eyes were 
also on the social condition of the land and he denounced 
its corruption and-vices. As a poet Isaiah is surpass- 
ingly great. Good judges think that even in the Old 
Testament there is nothing so great as Isaiah’s poetry. 
In one respect he is very like Jesus. His images are 
all from common life. And they are employed with 
rare skill and restraint. We may not be able to analyse 
the technical devices of his poetry, but we can all feel 
its splendour and power. 

Two other things may be said. Isaiah shows us how 
clearly revelation was a growth. How far removed 
we are in Isaiah from even Samuel with his violence 
and his primitive ideas! How great an advance in 
belief and in spirit beyond even Elijah! The other 
thing to be noted is Isaiah’s special message about 
God. It is God’s holiness. This is not merely good- 
ness. It is separateness, and separateness from all 
human weakness. It is really supreme majesty, 
“* Jehovah high and lifted up.” It is the thought of 
God as above human affairs, ruling them and guiding 
them, with a great purpose, and having the destinies 
of both Assyria and Judah in His hands. 


3. One thing needs to be said of the Book of Isaiah. 
When we speak of Isaiah’s prophecies we refer only 
to chapters 1-39. The second part of the book, or a 
large part of it (40-55), is by an anonymous writer of 
the period of the Exile (56-66 are supposed to be post- 
exilic). This is the verdict of criticism and of common- 
sense. If you discovered a letter to-day with a refer- 





Isaiah and Judah 225 


ence to the retreat of Mons you would say it must have 
been written after July, 1914. Similarly, when we find 
Cyrus mentioned in Isaiah 451, we conclude this must 
have been written after Cyrus was born, which was 
nearly 200 years after Isaiah. That is one reason for 
the conclusion that chapters 40-55 are by a later hand. 
Other reasons are (1) these chapters are a unity; (2) 
they reflect the period of the Exile, not that of an earlier 
time; (3) the whole style and language are different 
from Isaiah’s. The two works are found together 
probably because they occupied one roll, one not being 
sufficient to fill the roll. There is no interest of faith 
involved in the question. 


LVI. HEZEKIAH AND JUDAH 


2 Kinecs 18 and 19 
Date 727 B.c. 


A. For the Teacher 


1. Hezekiah’s reign, and especially the greatest 
event in it, become intelligible as soon as we grasp the 
historical situation. The same is true of Isaiah’s 
prophecies, which are mostly concerned with this 
same situation. Judah, through the action of Ahaz, 
had become a vassal of Assyria. But all these great 
empires lived by force, and by the strength of their 
kings, and so there were constant efforts made by the 
subject races to throw off the yoke after the death of 
each monarch. About this time there seemed to be 
a good opportunity for Judah to regain freedom. If 

15 





226 How to Teach the Old Testament 


only she could form an alliance with other states the 
thing might be done. This was the motive of Heze- 
kiah’s policy. He was attracted by promises of help 
from Egypt, and, in spite of the fact that Egypt had — 
already proved to be a “ broken reed” in the ex- 
perience of the northern kingdom, he relied on her 
promises. This was the court policy. But there was 
another policy, that of Isaiah. He saw the futility of 
all this diplomacy. He knew that Egypt would give 
nothing but promises. He foresaw the failure of 
Hezekiah’s measures. And he urged Judah to trust 
in God and go on quietly living her own life. God 
would answer the trust of His people. ‘‘ In quietness 
and confidence shall be your strength.’’ If we perceive 
clearly the nature of these two opposing policies we 
shall be able to read the history and the Book of Isaiah 
(1-39) with understanding. 


2. We do not know the nature of the stroke by which 
the Assyrian army was overwhelmed. We are only 
told that the angel of the Lord “smote” it. There is, 
however, a parallel story in Herodotus (2141) to the 
effect that Sennacherib’s army was destroyed by a 
pestilence, and pestilence is connected with the “ angel 
of the Lord ”’ in 2 Samuel 2415. At any rate the great 
deliverance was the climax of Isaiah’s career and of 
Hezekiah’s reign. 


B. Notes 


Chapter xviii. 4. Hezekiah’s reforms were unpopular 
(18?) and ineffectual because of the reaction against 
them later; Josiah had to do it all over again. 


Verse 7. served him not: i.e. paid no tribute. 





Hezekiah and Judah 297 





Verse 13. fenced cities. Sennacherib in an inscription 
says he took forty-six of these and captured 200,150 
people. 

Verse 17. These names are titles of office. The Tartan 
= “ chief captain,” the Rabsaris = ‘‘ chief eunuch,” 
and the Rabshakeh = “ chief of the officers.”’ 

Verse 19. great king: a title frequently assumed by 
these monarchs. 

Verse 21. Isaiah denounces the confidence in Egypt 
(301°). A similar confidence had destroyed the 
northern kingdom (2 Kings 17%). 

Verse 26. The “ Syrian language was what was 
known later as Aramaic. 


Chapter xix. 7. a blast upon him: R.V. “a spirit upon 
him,”’ i.e. I will influence his mind. 


Verse 9. saying. It was in a letter, as we see later (14). 
Verse 12. Places in the East. 


Verse 15. cherubims: the two carved figures above 
the Ark. 


Verse 29. The sign was that the people would eat the 
corn that sprang from old harvests, because they 
would not be able to sow, but in the third year 
things would be normal and they would sow and 
reap as usual. 

Verse 32. cast a bank (or “ mound,” R.V.). A regular 
part of siege operations was to raise a mound of 
earth to the level of the walls so that besiegers 
would fight on an equal footing with the besieged. 


C. The Lesson 


1. A great danger threatened the people of Judah 
at this time. The powerful Assyrian empire was 


228 How to Teach the Old Testament 


coming nearer and nearer. How was the danger to 
be met and overcome? There were two ways. The 
king, Hezekiah, and his ministers, said, ‘“‘ Let us make 
alliances, and if we have many nations together we 
may throw off the Assyrian yoke. And we shall have 
the help of Egypt.’”’ But Isaiah said, “‘No. You 
cannot defeat Assyria that way. You will fail. Your 
only safety is to trust in God. Are you not His people ? 
And will He not take care of His own? Your strength 
is to sit still, do what is right and trust God.” Very 
soon it was clear who was right. 


2. The Events. (1) The Assyrian army came on 
and defeated Egypt and all the other nations. Soon 
it came to Judah. Here the Assyrian king took forty- 
six cities and carried away about 200,000 inhabitants. 
(2) Hezekiah tried to buy him off by paying tribute, 
but he only retired for a little to come back again 
demanding surrender. (8) The insolent conduct and 
speech of the Rabshakeh (18'"*’). (4) Then Hezekiah 
turns to the Lord at last for help (repeat or read his 
beautiful prayer 19%"). (5) And God sends him an 
encouraging message by Isaiah (read the splendid 
utterance of Isaiah 19?°ff. or at least 37%). (6) 
Isaiah’s confidence justified, the amazing destruction 
of the Assyrian host (19%). 


8. The great feature of this story is how a man who 
wanted to depend on himself and his own cleverness 
and strength was forced to turn to God when all else 
failed. This is often what drives men to God. “ Man’s 
extremity is God’s opportunity.” Abraham Lincoln 
once said he was sometimes driven to his knees because 
he had nowhere else to go. His own wisdom and that 


Hezekiah and Judah 229 


of his friends had failed. Read also Psalm 1077 °°, 
where men are in a storm at sea and in danger. ‘“* They 
are at their wits’ end. Then they cry unto the Lord 
and He bringeth them out of their distresses.’’ This is 
how men learn to pray. We are driven to God by some 
need and He welcomes us. 


4, And so the great truth emerges in this lesson of 
the Sovereignty of God. God is our refuge. Compare 
the Exodus, ‘* Stand still and see the salvation of God.”’ 
That is all we cando. That was Isaiah’s great message. 
In quietness and confidence shall be your strength. If 
you do the right and attempt your duty, even if it 
seems impossible to you, God will achieve it through 
you. Instances: the abolition of slavery, and (greatest 
example of all) the conquest of the world by the Gospel, 
in the hands of a few fishermen with all the might of 
the Roman Empire against them. Conclude by read- 
ing Byron’s poem (a great favourite with children), 
“The Assyrian came down like a wolf on the fold.” 


LVITI. THE MESSIAH 


IsatlaAH 117? 


A. For the Teacher 


1. No account of Old Testament religion would be 
complete without a lesson on the great hope of a Messiah. 
One thing of a general kind must be said first of all as to 
the nature of Old Testament prediction. The popular 
idea of prophecy (that it is simply foretelling the future) 
is wrong (see Lesson LIII). The prophet was one who 
spoke for God, mainly about the present. Necessarily, 


230 How to Teach the Old Testament 


however, he had to speak of the future, as all idealists 
and reformers have done. But he spoke in terms of 
his own day. He might cherish, and express, a hope 
of better things, but his horizon was bounded by his 
own time. He never predicted in detail an age far ahead. 
The idea, for example, that in Daniel we have a picture 
of the twentieth century is ridiculous. The predictions 
of the prophets were general. They painted a picture 
of the future, but it was in colours of their own age. 
This does not mean that their predictions were the less 
Divine or inspired. God was in them, and meant to 
fulfil them in His own way, but it was a far better way 
than any prophet would have conceived. 


2. The origin of the Messianic idea was the conviction 
that God had chosen Israel for a great task and a great 
future. He had made a covenant with Israel and Israel 
was destined in the plan of God for great things. We 
can trace this back to Moses, and it is the hope in Amos 
(911, ff.) and Hosea (3°). Later this covenant was 
regarded as being made with David’s line in par- 
ticular, through which the glorious future was to be 
realized. 


3. And so the idea of a ruler who would fulfil his 
people’s greatest expectations was connected with 
David’s House. And the failure of one king after 
another to realize this idea only threw the hope into the 
future. Such a king would come. He would be an 
ideal king and would bring in an ideal time of peace and 
victory. This was Israel’s Utopia. It is the expecta- 
tion so vividly and beautifully expressed in Isaiah 
117° and in 9**, 


4, It is doubtful whether the Jews ever reached a 





The Messiah 231 
higher conception of their Messiah than this. ‘‘ Mes- 
siah’’ means ‘“‘anointed’’ and was nearly always 
applied to a king. But we have the wonderful con- 
ception in Isaiah 53. Was not this a Jewish picture 
of Messiah? Many writers say “no.’’ They take it 
as a picture of the true Israel, who is the Servant of 
Jehovah, Israel purified and consecrated. There is a 
good deal to be said for this interpretation. But the 
present writer is inclined to believe the Servant of the 
Lord of Isaiah 42, 49, 50, and 53, describes an individual. 
And the fact that Jesus recognized Himself in these 
passages confirms this. 


5. So we may say with some confidence of the hope 
of a Messiah in the Old Testament: (1) that it sprang 
from a deep faith in the great purpose of God ; (2) that 
it was strengthened and moulded by the failure of 
Israel’s leaders to embody God’s will ; (8) that the ideal 
king who was to come appeared in the people’s hope 
now asa monarch and sometimes as a devoted and conse- 
crated servant of God who would bring forgiveness to 
the people by his sufferings. 


6. Jesus fulfilled this great hope in a fashion greater 
and more wonderful than any prophet had ever imagined. 
He broke decisively with all political and worldly ideas 
of Messiah in the wilderness temptation (Matt. 4). 
But He took up into Himself all the greatest expecta- 
tions and desires of the Old Testament and gave them 
God’s own embodiment. And as we look back and 
forward we see that God was in the hopes of Old Testa- 
ment saints and prophets. The Old Testament is like 
a finger pointing forward. It is stamped on every page 
with a sense of its own imperfection. And Christ came 





Pd How to Teach the Old Testament 


to realize its divinely implanted hopes. And so we may 
justly say that the Old Testament is full of Christ. 


B. Notes 


Chapter xi. 1. The kingdom of David is like a stump 
of a tree. Yet there is sap of life in it, and it 
produces a new shoot, i.e. the Messiah. 

Verse 2. This is one spirit with six manifestations 
—two intellectual, two practical, and two religious. 

Verse 3. He will not depend on mere appearance or 
on the testimony of others. 


Verse 4. smite the earth: rather, ‘‘smite the violent.” 


Verse 5. A girdle binds the garments together and 
makes a man ready for action. 


Verse 7. shall feed: rather, ‘‘ shall become friends.” 


Verse 9. The peace extends to man. Holy mountain 
is Canaan. 


C. The Lesson 


1. You have seen the bare stump of a tree, with no 
life in it apparently. Yet one day you pass it and 
notice a shoot of green coming out. There is life some- 
where in it and that tiny shoot will blossom out into 
a branch and bear leaves. This is the picture Isaiah 
draws. What does he mean? It is a parable. The 
stump is the Royal House of David. Isaiah lived in a 
very dark time. It looked as if Israel was going to be 
extinguished by her enemies and God’s plan brought 
to naught. But Isaiah knew better. Some time a new 
shoot would spring from the ‘“‘dead” stump. The 
kings had failed God There was none that was God’s 


The Messiah 233 


true servant, but a better time would come. The true 
king would come, and Isaiah give us a beautiful picture 
of him and of what he would accomplish. 


2. His Origin. He would be of David’s line. The 
kings of that line had been poor kings. But God was 
in it. And therefore there was life in it. Life enough 
to produce a real king after God’s own heart. 


3. His Equipment or Outfit. The one thing he would 
have would be God’s spirit in him. This would give 
him wisdom and commonsense and a real faith in God. 
And what could be wished for in a king more than 
that ? He would know what to do without depending 
on other people (%) and he would get down to truth 
behind appearances. 


4, His Government. The one thing that would mark 
his rule would be justice. He would, for example, be a 
helper of the poor who had no protector. He would 
not favour the rich. The violent and wicked would 
get short shrift from him. But he would not use a 
sword. His power would be the power of truth and 
love. 


5. His Achievement. The one great result of this rule 
would be peace, peace even among animals that fight 
one another, and peace among men all over the land 
(°). No one would then hurt or destroy. 


6. What a wonderful picture! What does it mean 
for us? It means that all who believe in God will also 
believe that His Spirit will yet bring a better time when 
there will be peace among men and nations, and when 
the poor will be the special care of the powerful, when 
love will prevail. God will bring this about. We may 


234 How to Teach the Old Testament 


see many things wrong around us and we may be very 
sad and despondent. But we cannot lose hope if we 
have Isaiah’s belief in the living God. God will bring 
about better things if we work with Him and if we give 
ourselves up to Him. If we have His Spirit the great 
vision of Isaiah will one day be realized. Christ has 
shown us the way. If we have Christ in us we shall 
have love in us and we shall be peacemakers in the 
fullest sense. 


LIX. JOSIAH 
REVIVAL 


2 Kinas 22 anp 231° 
Date 640 B.c. 


A. For the Teacher 


1. The influence of Isaiah was great while he lived, 
but to outward appearance it did not seem to be lasting. 
Hezekiah’s attempt at religious reform was not popular, 
and after his death there was a reaction in the direction 
of heathenism. Manasseh, his successor, has the dis- 
tinction of being the worst king in the history of Judah. 
He made a clean sweep of the true religion and estab- 
lished idolatries of all kinds in Jerusalem and even in 
the Temple itself (21). It almost appeared as if the 
religion of Jehovah would be blotted out. In addition, 
Manasseh was a persecutor. He tried to kill all the 
prominent witnesses for the true faith, and (according 
to an old tradition) Isaiah was one of the victims of 
this “killing time.” Things were as black as they 
could be when Josiah ascended the throne. 


Josiah 235 


2. A very apt comparison has been made between 
the reigns of Manasseh and Josiah and those of “ bloody 
Mary” and Elizabeth. The one was marked by re- 
action and persecution, the other by revival and reform- 
ation. Josiah was only eight years of age on his acces- 
sion and it was not till his twenty-sixth year that he 
began his famous reformation. But when he did begin, 
he made a thorough job of it. His religious revolution 
marks a great epoch in the history of the true religion. 
And it was remarkable in one respect that it was due 
toa book! Surely no book ever had a greater influence 
on national life. The book found in the Temple is 
supposed by most scholars to have been our Deuteron- 
omy, or the substance of it. The arguments for this 
may be found in any good edition of Deuteronomy, 
or in Glazebrook, or Peake, p. 312. There is good 
scholarship against this view, but the answer to this 
question does not matter. The book was undoubtedly 
one which contained the Law of God in an authoritative 
form, and that is all that is important for our lesson. 
The book was clearly an embodiment of prophetic 
teaching, and the fact that Josiah was able to effect so 
complete a reformation of religion shows that the teach- 
ing of men like Amos, Hosea, Micah, and Isaiah had 
done its work and had influenced the thoughts of the 
people more deeply than appearances suggested. 


B. Notes 


Chapter xxii. 8. scribe: i.e. the king’s secretary. 


Verse 14. in the college: ought to be “‘in the second 
quarter.” 


Chapter xxiii. 3. by the pillar (see 11*and 1 Kings 7?!). 





236 How to Teach the Old Testament 


Verses 8,9. These priests were brought to Jerusalem 
and included in the Temple staff, but in a sub- 
ordinate capacity. They were really secondary 
priests, and were distinguished by the name 
SALE eI Less 

Verse 9. did eat unleavened bread: i.e. received main- 
tenance from the Temple funds. 

Verse 10. Topheth, the place where human sacrifices 
were made; and Hinnom, the valley running 
west and south of Jerusalem which contained 
Topheth and gave its name to Gehenna because 
refuse and garbage of all kinds were burned in this 
valley. 

Verse 11. given to the sun. The sun-god was repre- 
sented as driving in a chariot drawn by horses 
(cf. Phoebus Apollo). 

Verse 16. man of God (see 1 Kings 137). 

Verse 22. sucha passover. Why? Because hitherto 
the Passover was celebrated in people’s own 
houses. Now (a great change) it was to be cele- 
brated only in Jerusalem. At the present time 
it is again celebrated in the home. 

Verse 29. Pharaoh Necho: the first Pharaoh whose 
name is given in Scripture. 


C. The Lesson 


1. The influence of Isaiah apparently gone after 
Hezekiah’s death. Reaction set in. The people at 
heart idolaters. Manasseh’s heathenism. Give a 
picture of it (details in 21). 


2. The Writing of the Book. But the influence of 
Isaiah’s teaching not really gone. This was shown in 


Josiah 237 


two ways. First of all, there were faithful men who 
cherished the true faith and who worked for a victory 
over heathenism. They wrote a book containing the 
true Law of God for Israel, and they placed it where it 
would be found, in the Temple. If they dare not speak 
for God in face of Manasseh’s bloody persecution they 
could write down His message. 


3. The Finding of the Book. When Josiah had reigned 
for some years there occurred a very remarkable event. 
This book, containing the prophetic teaching and the 
Law of God, was discovered by the chief priest, Hilkiah, 
and its contents were so remarkable that it was sent 
to the king. The reading of this book changed the 
whole history of Israel and of the world. It led to the 
great Reformation of religion. 


4, Josiah’s Great Reformation. One of the ways in 
which the influence of Isaiah’s teaching was shown was 
the writing of the book. The other way was the train- 
ing of Josiah. He was only eight when he was made 
king, but he was surrounded by good men who brought 
him up in the knowledge of the true God. The Book 
of the Law which was found so wonderfully gave Josiah 
the signal and the guidance for a complete reformation 
of religious rites and practices. Compare Manasseh 
and Josiah to Mary and Elizabeth (see A). See 23 for 
the description of Josiah’s measures, which included 
(1) a cleansing of the Temple, (2) a complete purging 
of Jerusalem, and (3) the same measure applied all over 
the land. Nothing could have been more thorough. 
And, mark, though there were slight lapses, the work 
was done for good. Its results were permanent. 


5. The Great Lesson. What we see here is what we 


238 How to Teach the Old Testament 


see constantly in history, the power of recovery that is 
in true faith. Over and over again things have been 
as bad as they could be religiously. The true faith has 
seemed gone, religious life has seemed gone. And then 
suddenly out of the dead stump of the tree has appeared 
a green shoot with life and it has grown and grown till 
again there is a magnificent tree. All down the ages 
there have been these revivals. Examples : The move- 
ment under Samuel after the confusion of the period 
of the judges. The great uprising under David. The 
Reformation under Luther after the darkness of the 
Middle Ages. The great revival under Wesley when 
England seemed to be dead religiously (see Dean Hole’s 
Memories). And so we should have confidence in 
God. A man in ancient Rome had a statue put up to 
him “ because he never despaired of the Republic.” 
So we should never despair of the Church or of Christian- 
ity, however many croakers tell us that things are going 
from bad to worse. ‘‘ God’s in His heaven.” Indeed 
we ought to say ‘“ God’s in His world.” God is the 
living God and is never really absent from His own 
work. 


LX. JEREMIAH AND THE FALL OF JERUSALEM 
GOD AND THE SOUL 
2 Kincs 24 AND 25, AND THE Book OF JEREMIAH 
Date 586 B.c. 


A. For the Teacher 


1. The Book of Jeremiah is little read. This may be 
because it is depressing. In any case it is a pity, for 


Jeremiah and the Fall of Jerusalem 239 





several reasons: (1) The great events which occurred 
at this time (600-586 B.c.) can only be visualized by 
reading Jeremiah. The narrative in Kings is meagre 
in the extreme and has to be filled out by the vivid story 
told by the prophet and his secretary, Baruch. (2) 
Jeremiah is one of the greatest religious teachers in 
history. His message (the spirituality of religion) is 
the greatest any prophet delivered (read esp. 974). 
And (3) the biography of Jeremiah is inspiring. Dr. 
Foakes Jackson calls him ‘ querulous,” but what will 
impress most readers is his perfect selflessness and his 
heroic spirit. He was the kind of man who was timid by 
nature, but a sense of duty gave him a splendid moral 
courage. It isthought by many scholars that Jeremiah 
is the model from which the portrait of the Suffering 
Servant in Isaiah 53 was drawn, and it is quite 
likely. 


2. The events of the time, though of great importance, 
are only the background for the life of Jeremiah. Yet 
the one great event overshadows everything in its signi- 
ficance, the fall of Jerusalem and the ruin of the State. 
We get the real story of this in Jeremiah, large parts of 
which are by his disciple, Baruch. It would be help- 
ful to the teacher if he would read rapidly through the 
narrative parts of Jeremiah. It would enable him to 
picture the actual situation when Judah as a kingdom 
was come to its end. 


3. It is important to note that with Jeremiah we 
come to a new epoch, not only in the history of Israel, 
but in the history of religion and thought about God. 
Jeremiah saw that religion must be in the soul, but also 
that it was a personal relation between the soul and 


240 How to Teach the Old Testament 


God. Hitherto the religious teachers of Israel had 
thought of God’s relation to Israel as national. The 
nation was the unit, and Israelites were blessed through 
the nation. Jeremiah proclaimed that God cares for 
each soul separately, not as Israelites but as souls (read 
Jer. 31°***), This was a great moment in the history 
of humanity when such a discovery was made and men 
could say ‘“‘ I am poor and needy yet the Lord thinketh 
upon me.” 


B. Notes 


There is nothing of special difficulty in the narrative 
of Kings. The lesson will explain any obscurities. 


C. The Lesson 


We are now coming to the tragic close of the history 
of Judah’s earthly kingdom. We are going to witness 
the fall of the great city and the exile of its inhabitants. 
But all this is mirrored for us most clearly in the life 
of one of the greatest of the prophets and one of the 
greatest religious teachers of any age. 


1. Jeremiah was a native of Anathoth, a village a 
few miles north-east of Jerusalem. He belonged to a 
priestly family. Probably retiring and timid by nature 
(Jer. 1**). Deeply influenced by the Reformation under 
Josiah (Lesson LIX). 

2. This led to his call to the work of prophecy (Jer. 1). 
His reluctance to take up what would be a dangerous 
mission. His natural fears. Yet, in spite of these, 
Jeremiah’s splendid courage all through his life. 


3. His message. A very difficult one. He had to 


Jeremiah and the Fall of Jerusalem 241 
tell his people that they must submit to Babylon and 
content themselves with living quietly as its vassals. 
To resist was folly and meant destruction. Thus the 
truer Jeremiah was as a prophet the more he appeared 
a bad patriot. That is always a hard kind of attitude 
totake. It sets the prophet in opposition to the patriot- 
ism of his people. Jeremiah knew he would be un- 
popular. In point of fact he was in danger of his life 
from the mob and was rescued only with difficulty 
(Jer. 26'"). 


4, Thus rejected and scorned, Jeremiah committed 
his message to writing and sent Baruch to read it 
publicly (Jer. 36). Tell the story, the rage of the king 
and the burning of the roll. 


5. Soon the prophet’s prediction came true. The 
King of Babylon came up against the city. At first he 
only despoiled it and took the king away (2 Kings 24). 
But later, when the new king, with that folly which seems 
to have infected every one of them at this time, plotted 
against Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar came back and 
finished the job. The siege of Jerusalem, and its cap- 
ture and destruction (2 Kings 25 and Jer. 39). The 
inhabitants deported to Babylon. The date of this 
tragic event is 586 B.c. Jeremiah’s narrative will help 
to make the scene vivid. 


6. Meantime Jeremiah had fared badly. His 
imprisonment by the prince (Jer. 37 and 388). His 
rescue by the king, Zedekiah, who seems to have been 
more weak than wicked. Renewed imprisonment by 
the princes who meant to kill Jeremiah. 


7. The last we hear of the prophet is almost the best. 
16 





242 How to Teach the Old Testament 


The King of Babylon rescued him on the fall of the 
city and offered him a position of honour at Babylon. 
But Jeremiah (like Moses) chose to abide with the 
wretched remnant of his people. And with them he 
stayed (Jer. 40) until they went off to Egypt and carried 
the prophet with them. So our last glimpse of him is 
of that brave unselfishness which we see in everything 


he did and said. 


8. What then did Jeremiah do? What did God send 
him out to accomplish ? His life seems a failure. He 
was always against his people. He was unpopular, 
scorned, imprisoned, nearly killed. But he had a great 
message and he gave it tothe world. Itwasthis. True 
religion is the trust of the soul in God. It does not 
depend on earthly power or institutions. Though 
Jerusalem was destroyed and Israel captive, yet true 
religion could be more real and powerful without Jeru- 
salem or the kingdom than with them. And it is not 
in a nation that religion abides but in the individual 
soul. The humblest soul can live in God and know 
God. And it is the trust of such a soul in God that is 
salvation. It is not outward things that make religion, 
churches or sacraments or Bible or creed, though these 
are all useful, even essential, as helps. But the real 
thing is God and my soul, God holding me and I holding 
God. We shall see that when Israel grasped this she 
once more became the people of God and an instrument 
in His hand. 





The Ezile 243 


LXI. THE EXILE 
I. THE BLESSING OF SUFFERING 
PsALM 187 


This and the next lesson are really one subject, but 
there is too much material for one lesson. 


Date 586-5388 B.c. 


A. For the Teacher 


1. When Jerusalem fell in 586 B.c. the people were 
carried into exile in Babylon, where they remained 
nearly a half-century. But many had been deported 
before this. In 701 Sennacherib had taken about 
150,000 people away. In 597 a great many were 
deported, including Ezekiel. And in 586, the date of 
the “ captivity,” the best of the remnant were exiled. 
These Jewish captives were settled, some in Babylon 
itself, others in different parts of the kingdom. They 
seem to have been treated well. They were allowed 
to live together, to trade and to marry, in short to live 
their own life. So comfortable were they that many 
refused to return at the Restoration. And if all had 
been like that the nation would have disappeared as 
the ten tribes did. But, largely through the influence 
of men like Ezekiel, they kept together, and, as Psalm 137 
shows, they preserved and intensified their love cf their 
ancient Temple. 


2. The Exile produced far-reaching events on the 
people. It changed them in many ways, all for good. 
(1) The deepest change was in their character. It was 





244 How to Teach the Old Testament 


nothing short of aregeneration. The Exile purified them, 
made them humbler, cleansed them from materialistic 
aims, brought them “renewed vitality.”” They came 
back later a different people. (2) One change is of 
special importance for the future. They clung together 
and resisted all influence from the surrounding heathen- 
ism. The old belief in themselves as God’s peculiar 
people was intensified. And they began to set before 
themselves separateness as an ideal. They were 
thoroughly purged of their love of idols, and came back 
with a furious hatred of all idolatry, and with this 
stamp of separateness upon them. (8) The Exile 
carried still further, and brought to its highest point, 
their thought of God. Now His transcendent power 
and majesty were the dominant view of God. Every 
trace of localism disappeared. He was the absolute 
Ruler of the Universe. Doubtless the people lost much 
of the old intimacy of their faith in God. But they 
gained in purity of religion and in reverence. And 
thus the separation from their Temple “‘ made it possible 
for Judaism to become a world-wide religion.” (4) 
Finally, a change took place in their worship which 
was epoch-making. They were allowed to worship as 
they chose. They had no Temple, but they had to 
have a place of meeting. And so the synagogue was 
begun, with its free, elastic order of worship and its 
public preaching. When they came back they brought 
the synagogue with them, and this became the real 
characteristic institution of Judaism. Wherever there 
were Jews there was a synagogue. And it is the real 
centre of Judaism at this day. The Temple and the 
priesthood have gone, but the synagogue remains. 





The Exile 245 


B. Notes 


Verse 1. the rivers of Babylon: i.e. the canals that 
intersected the city. 


Verse 2. willows: rather, ‘ poplars.” 
Verse 5. forget tts cunning: rather, ‘* wither.” 


Verse 7. The enmity of Edom was ancient and in- 
veterate. Jacob and Esau struggled together in 
their mother’s womb. Moffatt renders the verse 
“The Edomites! Remember against them, 
Eternal, that day of Jerusalem’s fall, when ‘ Down 
with her ! down with her!’ Edomites cried, ‘ raze 
her to the ground.’ ” 


Verse 8. who art to be destroyed: rather, “the de- 
troyer.” Moffatt renders *“‘ You, Babylonians, who 
plundered us.” 


C. The Lesson 


1. Picture the exiled Jews sitting on an evening about 
the canals which carried the water from the great river 
Euphrates through the city. A great city like Venice. 
Splendid palaces and temples. A gay life. . Exiles not 
badly treated, more like settlers than slaves. They 
lived in scattered communities, but had their own 
homes, their trade, their worship. Many of them 
became rich. 


2. But nothing could take from their hearts the love 
of Jerusalem and its sanctuary. And when, in jest 
or in kindliness, their conquerors asked them to sing 
one of the songs of Zion they felt they could not do it. 
This patriotism became more and more intense as time 





246 How to Teach the Old Testament 





went on, but it was purer and higher, not the old blind 
confidence in Jerusalem but a longing for God’s House 
and a humble gladness in God Himself. 


83. You see the Exile, and its sufferings, had changed 
the people. It purified them. It cured them of idolatry. 
It gave them a better and nobler faith in God. It 
helped them to become more worthy of being God’s 
people. Nothing in all their great history had done 
them as a people so much good as this severe trial and 
suffering. It was a furnace that tried and purified and 
brought out the gold. 


4, That is what suffering, trial, hardness, pain, dis- 
appointment, ought to do. It is what God means it 
to do. You remember the penitent thief, how his 
suffering softened his heart and turned it to God. 
Shakespeare’s fine lines : 


** Sweet are the uses of adversity 
Which, like a toad, ugly and venomous, 
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head.” 


Also Browning’s Rabbi ben Ezra for the older child- 
ren, specially the fine picture of the Potter fashion- 
ing men’s souls with His wheel of suffering. ‘‘ Coddled”’ 
children turn out badly. We need discipline to streng- 
then us and enable us to face life. And what the Exile 
and its trials did for the Jews our own trials ought to 
do for us, if we accept them bravely and take them from 
God. Never complain of your difficulties, for it is 
difficulties that make men. 





The Eaile 247 





LXIT THE EXILE 
Il. THE SERVICE OF SUFFERING 


EZEKIEL $71!"14 


182 fe For the Teacher 


1. We have seen the moral and spiritual benefit that 
came to Israel with the Exile. But there was much 
more. A great benefit came to the world through the 
Kixile. Israel was herself fitted by her experience then 
for giving the service which God chose her to render, 
to spread the true religion over the world. She was 
fitted for this by a purer faith and a definite separate- 
ness from the contamination of heathenism. But she 
rendered another great service to the world by the great 
literature she produced at this period, the greatest 
literature in the world. ‘To mention the books written 
out of the tears and sorrow of this time is enough. 
First there are the Psalms, many of which belong to the 
Exile, such as 22, 51, 66 up to 70, and 137. Then there 
is Job, and finally there is “‘ Second Isaiah ”’ (Isaiah 
40-55). Besides this glorious achievement Israel at 
this time began to gather together the laws passed at 
different periods and form them into a collection, and 
also began to form the stories of the past into connected 
histories. The Hexateuch (the first six books of the 
Bible), called ‘“‘ The Law,” is the product of this period. 
Many of these laws and stories were very ancient, but 
they were now revised and edited and made into a con- 
nected whole. 


2. The great prophet of this period was Ezekiel. 
His book is little read: because of the strange images 





248 How to Teach the Old Testament 


in it. But it is a fascinating book if one reads it in the 
light of its background. Ezekiel belonged to the upper 
class and was of priestly stock. We know little of his 
life, but he was taken to Babylon with the captives 
after the first capture of Jerusalem under Jehoiachin. 
At first he seems not to have been acceptable to the 
exiles, but as he lived among them and shared their 
experience he learned how to talk to them. And so 
powerful was his ministry that it was he who largely 
kept the people together and inspired them with the 
hope and confidence which enabled them to endure in 
the certainty of a glorious redemption. This gospel 
of encouragement is found in the most interesting part 
of the book, chapters 31-37, especially in the two great 
visions in 84 and 37, one of which is taken as the basis 
of this lesson. Ezekiel also preached the doctrine of 
personal responsibility (18) in a way that both rebuked 
and comforted the exiles. ‘‘ The soul that sinneth, it 
shall die.”” Every soul is punished for his own sin and 
not for another’s. The exiles were not to lay the blame 
of their sufferings on their fathers. A man carries his 
own load both of sin and of goodness. This was for 
that time healthful teaching, and thus both in rousing 
their conscience and inspiring hope Ezekiel had a great 
ministry. 

3. One thing more needs to be said about the exile. 
It was the time when great problems were faced by 
Israel and serious efforts were made to solve them. 
One was the problem of suffering, and especially the 
suffering of the innocent. How was it that God’s own 
people should be oppressed, and that by a power which 
was cruel and godless? That was Israel’s case and the 
case of many individuals. This problem is faced in 


The Exile 249 





Job and the solution there is that suffering is sometimes 
a discipline, necessary to purify us and bring us to God. 
The solution of the psalms of this period was that in 
another life things will be set right. And so at this time 
the great hope of immortality sprang up in strength. 
A very beautiful solution is found in Second Isaiah, 
where the true Israel is shown to suffer as God’s servant 
for the good of the world. Suffering is a service (Isa. 
58). Ezekiel, on the other hand, insists that suffering 
is retribution brought on us by our own conduct. All 
these solutions have truth in them and are part of the 
final explanation. 


B. Notes 


Verse 1. the valley: an imaginary one, where the 
corpses lay of men who died in a great battle. The 
bones are scattered. There is not even a skeleton, 
so little hope of life is there. 


Verse 6. breath. “The mystery of this powerful 
passage is heightened by the use of the same word 
in Hebrew for wind, breath and spirit ” (Peake). 


Verse 7. a shaking. All the bones began to move so 
that the valley shook. 


Verse 12. graves. It is the exile that is meant. 


C. The Lesson 


1. We have seen how suffering purifies and streng- 
thens people. But we are also to see how it fits people 
for serving God. This was where the Israelites had 
failed in the past. They were not fit to do what God 


250 How to Teach the Old Testament 


wanted of them. Now they were made fit. The 
hope of better things which Ezekiel expresses in this 
vision was due to his seeing better things in the 
people. 


2. It is true that if you looked at the exiles there 
did not seem much ground for hope. Like dry bones, 
scattered and disunited and lifeless. But see! two 
things happen. The word of God is spoken and the bones 
begin to move. And then the Spirit of God comes on 
them like a wind and they come together and become 
a great army, strong to fight for God and win. That is 
what is going to happen to people who accept their trials 
at God’s hand and come back to Him in penitence and 
faith. 


3. One way in which the new Israel began at once to 
serve God was by the glorious literature it produced. 
(Name the books and describe them.) Another way 
was in being purified of idolatry and false beliefs and 
in coming to have a purer faith in God. This made 
Israel fit to spread the true religion and made it possible 
for Christ to come in God’s time. 


4, And so it is often our trials that fit us to do our 
best work. Look at some striking examples. Dante 
produced his great poem in exile, and owing to his 
exile. Bunyan wrote the Pilgrim’s Progress out of a 
prison experience. Milton wrote Paradise Lost because 
of his blindness which prevented him becoming a 
Secretary of State. St. Paul wrote his finest letters 
from prison in Rome. And Jesus Christ has become 
our Redeemer through His Cross. So also the great 
pioneers and missionaries and discoverers have made 
their contribution to the good of men through sufferings 





The Exile 251 


and dangers. It is in facing hardships and difficulties 
that we get our fitness for doing the work God sends us 
to do. 


LXIII. THE RETURN 
SEPARATENESS 


THE Booxs or EzRA AND NEHEMIAH 
Date 588-430 B.c. 


The object of this lesson is to tell what happened 
when the people were restored to their own land. We 
end the story of the Old Testament here, but Israel 
began an entirely new period in her life, a period marked 
by different conditions, a different religious spirit, 
different teachers and different ideals. The develop- 
ment between the Old Testament and the New Testa- 
ment is “‘another story,’ but the foundations were 
laid in the events described below. There is an 
advantage in taking the series of incidents as a whole 
so as to present a picture of the Return and the returned 
people in one view. 


1. Who Brought the People Back? The man who 
began the whole movement was Cyrus, King of Persia. 
He had conquered Babylon, and was now (538 B.c.) 
supreme lord of its great empire. One of the first 
things he did was to issue a decree permitting all exiled 
peoples to return to their own lands. Many of the 
Jews refused to take advantage of this. They had 
prospered in Babylon and were content to remain. 
But there were many who had learned from Ezekiel to 
look for God’s hand in a restored Israel. And they 





v5 How to Teach the Old Testament 


began to go in streams across the desert. The biggest 
company was led by Zerubbabel, a prince of the House 
of Judah, appointed governor of Judea by Cyrus. 
About 50,000 people went with him. The story of 
Zerubbabel is told in Ezra. His achievement was the 
rebuilding of the Temple. There was great opposition 
to this by the Samaritans and others, and the building 
was stopped for atime. But in the end it was finished, 
and dedicated with great ceremony. ‘Then there is a 
gap of time of which we hear nothing, from 517 to 458 
B.c., when Ezra appears on the scene. He was a scribe 
living in Babylon, and came with a batch of returned 
exiles. He brought with him a copy of the Law, which 
was substantially our Pentateuch, and in his heart a 
sreat zeal for its observance. It was Ezra’s work to 
bring the restored community to obey the Law, indeed 
to make it the basis of all their life. And he accom- 
plished this purpose. It was one of the most important 
events in all the history of Israel, for now this people 
founded their religious life on a Book, and a Law-book, 
and this changed its whole character. The fourth 
leader now appears (4438 B.c.), Nehemiah, whose history 
is a delightful romance. Read his memoirs over 
rapidly. They tell a wonderful story and reveal a most 
attractive personality. Was it not A. B. Davidson 
who said that in an extremity Nehemiah never tore 
his hair, he got up and tore other people’s hair? His 
work was the rebuilding of the walls of the city, so as 
to make Jerusalem secure. He tells us of all the efforts 
made to prevent this being done, and how he met these 
successfully. In addition to rebuilding the walls 
Nehemiah insisted on a thorough reformation of evils, 
social and religious, and especially on a strict sabbath- 


The Return 253 


keeping. And thus Israel came back, her Temple was 
rebuilt, her beloved city was again a walled city, houses 
were erected and the people themselves set on the way 
of a new obedience to God’s will. 


2. What the People were like when they came Back. 
What we see after the Return is a people entirely 
changed. (1) Outwardly, first of all. Israel had no 
king, no army, no court. She was not a nation any 
longer, but a Church, a religious community, a people 
whose life centred on religion and its ceremonies. 
Priest and Scribe took the place of King and Captain. 
(2) The people’s religion was founded on Law, on 
obedience to precepts out of a book. The Pentateuch 
was the first Bible of the Jews and it became at this 
time the basis of all their religious faith and practice. 
Before the Exile the will of God had been proclaimed 
by prophets, by the living word. Now it was found 
in a book, and prophecy faded away. There were 
no more prophets. The religion of the people was 
legal and ceremonial, a change in some ways for the 
worse religiously. (3) This Law had two sides. It 
dealt with ritual, feasts, worship, and so the Priest 
became a great figure in the life of the people. But 
there was another side. The Law dealt with conduct. 
And because it was often doubtful what it meant in 
practice, a class of lawyers arose to interpret it. They 
were the Scribes, and these were the real teachers of 
the people, as the prophets used to be. Henceforth 
Priest and Scribe are the dominant figures in Israel. 
And (4) the most marked feature of all was the ideal 
which was present in all they did, viz. separateness. 
They set before them this aim, to ‘‘ keep themselves to 
themselves,’ to have nothing to do with the surrounding 


254 How to Teach the Old Testament 


nations. They determined to keep themselves clear — 
especially of two things, idolatry and mixed marriages, — 
They wished to keep both their religion and their race 
pure. This Separateness was the watchword of their — 
hfe from now on. We can see the value of this. It © 
kept Israel from disappearing in the heathen life around. 
It kept Israel pure to be God’s instrument in His own 
time. It kept the true religion pure to be the fountain- 
head of a greater religion and a nobler gospel. This 
rigid strictness was the necessary condition for Israel 
fulfilling her destiny, and we may be thankful for the 
Providence that inspired it. 


3. And so the story ends on this note of Puritanism. 
We see the people fading into the mist of a period about 
which we know singularly little, but as it fades we 
know what it is like and why it persisted practically 
unchanged to the coming of Christ. And we can see 
how much there is to be said for this kind of separate- 
ness. Itistrue that arigid strictness is apt to degenerate 
into formalism and self-righteousness. It did so in 
Israel. Goodness does not consist in giving up this or 
that doubtful practice. Religion does not consist in 
cutting off this pleasure or that indulgence. There are 
people whose religion consists in not playing cards or 
dancing or going to a theatre. But that negative 
kind of thing is not religion. Religion is loving God 
and man. These practices may or may not be wrong. 
Each of us has to decide that for himself. But we 
know that the one demand of Jesus is for love to God 
and our neighbour. If we have this love governing 
us we may do what we like, for we shall not do wrong. 
Separateness does not mean giving up any “ worldli- 
ness.”’ It means keeping our hearts from evil. And 


The Return 255 


this is to be done not merely by excluding things but 
by living in God. And this is the final lesson of the 
whole of the Old Testament history. When we love 
God and trust Him and live with Him we are safe and 
happy. For that is the secret of all good. 


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